Home and Electric Vehicle Network Standards Program to Debut in Japan

The automotive industry is constantly working to reduce the environmental impact of vehicles, and other industries are also making efforts to support this. The latest automotive-related development coming from companies that are active in related fields comes from Japan.

The members of the Smart Network Project, NTT DOCOMO, NEC Corporation, Sekisui House, NAMCO BANDAI Games ant other companies, announced that they will debut a testing program for communication standards for networked home electronics and electric vehicles. The program is aimed at creating a set of global communication standards that will be a part of the sustainable low-cabon development in the future.

Multiple test and demonstrations will take place in Yokohama city (Japan), in the Minato Mirai 21 district between November 2010 and March 2011.

The Smart Network Project includes two groups that test network technologies and processes, the Home/EV Network Group and the EV Support Network Group. In addition to that, the project will also gather EV data for car sharing services.

“The Smart Network Project was adopted by Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications in June as a part of the Projects to Standardize and Promote Network Integration Control Systems. The goal is to build a sustainable low-carbon society through the development of smart grids, networked home appliances and electric vehicles connected via common communication standards. The project, in cooperation with the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, is working with the public/private Japan Smart Community Alliance to accelerate nationwide efforts to develop global communication standards,” stated the press release.