Electric cars are meant to be a greener alternative to fuel-powered cars. However given that electric cars still require electricity to charge, it can mean drawing from the power grid which in some cases aren’t necessarily green sources themselves. This is a balance that needs to be struck and one that Honda thinks they might have the answer to.
The company has recently announced a new beta program called SmartCharge. With this program, Honda will actually pay drivers to charge their electric cars during low usage periods of time and when renewable energy sources are available. This will require drivers to download the HondaLink EV app and create a profile to take part in the beta.
Of course Honda car owners won’t expect to receive a ton of money from this, but perhaps the extra cash could be enough to persuade owners to charge at more optimal times. In terms of the payout, Honda Fit EV owners can receive up to $50 just for signing up, and get $50 every two months after the duration of their participation.
Honda owners won’t actually be given cold hard cash, but this will instead come in the form of Amazon digital gift cards, which admittedly are almost as good as cash since Amazon does stock quite a lot of things. At the moment the program is only available to Fit EV users, but the company will gauge the beta to decide if they want to extend it to other models.
Filed in . Read more about Electric Cars and Honda.