Japanese automotive giant Mitsubishi is to take part in a multi-year trial starting in Tokyo later this year that will feature more than 150 battery-swappable electric commercial vehicles (EVs) and 14 modular battery swap stations.
The pilot battery swapping program is a collaboration between Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation (MFTBC), Mitsubishi Motors Corporation, Californian battery technology company Ample, and Yamato Transport, and will start in September.
The new pilot program will deploy a range of commercial EVs capable of battery swapping, including MFTBC’s eCanter light-duty truck and Mitsubishi Motors’ Minicab EV.
The vehicles will be used to serve commercial delivery fleets across Tokyo, with Yamato Transport, Japan’s largest shipping and logistics group, the first major customer of the initiative.
Ample will provide its battery swapping technology for participating EV platforms and will also install and operate the swapping stations which the company claims can provide fleet vehicles with a full charge in under five minutes.
Each battery swap station is compact and quick to deploy – in as little time as under a week – and requires no heavy infrastructure and is powered by renewable energy.
It is also hoped that Ample’s swapping stations may be one day able to provide grid services, such as storing renewable energy to.
The multi-year trial is backed by financial support from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government through its Technology Development Support Project for Promoting New Energy.
Joshua S. Hill is a Melbourne-based journalist who has been writing about climate change, clean technology, and electric vehicles for over 15 years. He has been reporting on electric vehicles and clean technologies for Renew Economy and The Driven since 2012. His preferred mode of transport is his feet.