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The adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) has been announced worldwide with the aim of reducing CO2 emissions. However, a significant increase in electricity demand by EVs might impact the stable operation of the existing power grid. Meanwhile, EV charging is acceptable to most users if it is completed by the time of the next driving event. From the viewpoint of power grid operators, flexibility for shifting the timing of EV charging would be advantageous, including making effective use of renewable energy. In this work, an EV model and simulation tool were developed to make clear how the total charging demand of all EVs in use will be influenced by future EV specifications (e.g., charge power) and installation of charging infrastructure. Among the most influential factors, EV charging behavior according to use cases and regional characteristics were statistically analyzed based on the real-world usage data of over 14, 000 EVs and incorporated in the simulation tool.

An airbag system for motorcycle applications was developed and commercially released in 2006 based on many research results on that system. In the airbag system, the bag should be supported during the period in a collision. The previously developed system employed a configuration in which the airbag was supported by the structures of the motorcycle, such as the instrument panel and the surrounding structures. These structures receive the reaction force to hold the airbag during a crash to properly absorb the rider's kinetic energy. Meanwhile, the previous system requires a larger area for these reaction structures and is applicable only to the motorcycles that can provide the area. To overcome this limitation, we propose an airbag system employing another concept. In this concept, the airbag does not use its vehicle structures as reaction structures but uses the structures of an opposing vehicle, such as doors and/or pillars.