Honda and Lunar Energy: smarter charging for EV drivers across Europe
To support the transition to a cleaner grid, Honda, a Japan-based multinational automobile company, was committed to accelerating its electrification plans in the UK and Europe and offering real value to EV owners.
The challenge
Most EV chargers do one thing: start charging the moment a car is plugged in. That simplicity comes at a cost. Drivers end up paying peak-hour electricity prices when cheaper, cleaner alternatives are available throughout the night. Getting the most from flexible energy tariffs means monitoring prices and setting schedules manually — something most people simply won't do.
The solution
That's what Lunar delivered. Working with Honda, Lunar built e:PROGRESS, an intelligent EV charging solution for Honda e drivers in the UK and Germany that takes the complexity out of cheap, clean charging entirely.
Our Gridshare Software Platform connects to the vehicle and the customer's energy tariff and handles everything automatically. It monitors half-hourly electricity prices, identifies the cheapest windows overnight, and charges the vehicle accordingly — drawing on renewable energy from tariffs like Agile Octopus and Octopus Go wherever possible. Drivers simply set when their car needs to be ready. Our optimization does the rest.
Customers stay in control throughout, adjusting their schedule at any time through the app. But most of the time, they don't need to, as e:PROGRESS fits around their life, not the other way around.
In select areas, e:PROGRESS users can also participate in Virtual Power Plant trials, dynamically shifting their energy load to support a cleaner, more resilient local energy system.
The results
e:PROGRESS launched in the UK and Germany as Honda's first move into energy services in Europe, delivering:
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What's next
As EV adoption grows and flexible tariffs become the norm, the value of intelligent charging will only increase. Lunar already built its software platform for what comes next: more vehicle types, more markets, more ways to make clean driving cheaper and easier for everyone.
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- Up to 46% reduction in charging costs on dynamic tariffs, versus unoptimized charging.
- A seamless customer experience: set it once, let our optimization handle the rest.
- Reduced energy use at peak times, helping balance the grid and power more everyday life with clean energy.
- Over 18,000 smart charging sessions across the peak 12 months of the program.
- Participation in VPP trials - e:PROGRESS users in select areas were able to participate in Virtual Power Plant trials.
“The introduction of e:PROGRESS marks a key milestone for Honda in the development of our Energy Management business here in Europe, bringing together all of our work to date to offer real value to EV owners. This is our first move into a service business model in the energy space, and we are committed to continuing to invest and develop in this area as part of the move towards electrification and widespread adoption of electric vehicles.”
