Honda doesn’t just want to sell you an electric car—it wants to make sure that car pulls double duty as a power plant for your home. At RE+ 25, North America’s largest clean-energy trade show, the company is taking the wraps off a bold vision for the future of mobility and energy management, anchored by the sleek Acura RSX Prototype and a suite of vehicle-to-home (V2H) and vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technologies.
If you caught Monterey Car Week last month, you already know the RSX Prototype: a rakish, premium electric SUV built on Honda’s brand-new global EV platform. At RE+, the RSX isn’t just a showpiece—it’s plugged into a bi-directional home charging station concept, a setup that previews how future Acura and Honda EVs could power your house in a blackout, or even send excess juice back to the grid when demand spikes.
Cars as “Virtual Power Plants”
Honda floated this idea at CES earlier this year, describing its future EVs as “Virtual Power Plants.” Think of it like this: your car charges itself when rates are lowest (and renewables are plentiful), then kicks some of that stored energy back to your home—or the grid—when electricity prices peak. That could mean shaving money off your energy bill while helping utilities keep the lights on.
Gary Robinson, VP of sustainability and business development at American Honda, put it bluntly: “In the future, we want to make every Honda EV not just a vehicle but a home energy solution.”
That vision isn’t just vaporware. Honda recently inked a deal with Southern California Edison to begin testing V2H and V2G systems with future Honda and Acura EVs. The goal: let EVs act as backup batteries for homes, or as stabilizers for the grid during crunch times. ChargeScape—a joint venture between Honda, BMW, Ford, and Nissan—will provide the digital glue to make it all work.
A Booth Packed with Tech
Honda’s RE+ display isn’t just about the RSX. Here’s what else you’ll find at booth #V8659:
- Fastport eQuad Prototype: A funky, pedal-assist electric quad targeting last-mile delivery drivers. It’s quiet, swappable-battery powered, and looks ready to elbow into the e-cargo-bike market. Deliveries start late 2025.
- 2025 Honda CR-V e:FCEV: A plug-in fuel-cell hybrid of sorts—29 miles of electric range plus 270 miles on hydrogen, with fast refueling for road trips.
- Bi-directional Home Charger Concept: The lynchpin of Honda’s energy ambitions, allowing your EV to charge and discharge at will.
- Home energy hardware: rooftop solar panels, home batteries, an Emporia Vue energy monitor, a high-efficiency heat pump water heater, and a Honda-branded fuel-cell generator designed to scale from 250 kW up to 3 MW for commercial facilities.
The message is clear: Honda wants to sell you not just an EV, but an entire electrified lifestyle. Acura and Honda already run online “Home Electrification” marketplaces where customers can order solar, batteries, and chargers, with plans to expand as their EV portfolio grows.
Looking Ahead
The Acura RSX itself is set to hit dealerships in the second half of 2026, the first Acura built on Honda’s in-house EV platform. Beyond that, Honda is betting that what sits in your garage will matter as much to your electric bill as what’s on your roof.
Southern California Edison’s Funmi Williamson summed it up neatly: “These technologies will not only let customers drive clean but will also help them use those vehicles to power their homes during outages and help the grid during times of peak demand.”
That’s a big promise. But if Honda pulls it off, the Acura RSX might just be the first SUV that looks as good in your driveway as it does keeping the fridge cold when the grid goes down.
Source: Acura