The deployment of 150 electrical industrial automobiles, alongside battery swapping infrastructure, options Mitsubishi Fuso’s electrical eCanter light-duty vans and Mitsubishi Motors’ Minicab EV, a compact industrial electrical automobile with a monobox design.
This initiative follows a 2024 pilot program in Kyoto, introduced in 2023, which centered on a single eCanter truck outfitted with exchangeable battery modules and battery swapping stations developed by US-based Ample. The challenge was operated by Yamato Transport, described by Mitsubishi Fuso as “Japan’s largest transport and logistics group.” Yamato’s journey in the direction of commercializing battery swapping for fleets started even earlier, in 2022.
Based on the companions, the Kyoto demonstration validated the operational benefits of the system and showcased Ample’s platform’s functionality to operate throughout varied automobile varieties and types. This new section of piloting, which incorporates Mitsubishi Motors and Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Company, goals to boost operational scale.
Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Company (MFTBS) got here into existence in Might 2023 from the merger of Mitsubishi Fuso Truck & Bus and Hino Motors, specializing in industrial automobile growth, procurement, and manufacturing to advance electrification. Daimler Truck and Toyota, which personal these manufacturers, maintain equal investments within the newly shaped holding firm. In Europe, Mitsubishi Fuso captured a 9% share of the varied gentle industrial automobile market in 2024.
Not too long ago, Ample introduced its institution of battery swapping stations in Tokyo in collaboration with Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Company and Mitsubishi Motors Company. Khaled Hassounah, CEO of Ample, described Tokyo as a number one metropolis in sustainable city growth and a serious marketplace for industrial deliveries, making it a super web site for his or her subsequent deployments in Japan. He sees this initiative as a mannequin for a way densely populated cities can transfer towards electrification for industrial fleets.
Some great benefits of battery swapping for industrial automobiles are vital. One of many main advantages is decreased downtime; automobiles can swap batteries in about 5 minutes while not having to go away the automobile. This method additionally permits operators to watch battery well being higher, facilitating straightforward evaluations and transitions of batteries into second-life functions or recycling, impartial of auto operators’ efforts.
From a grid perspective, battery swapping stations present key advantages. They will cost batteries at slower charges when grid demand is decrease, versus megawatt charging, which calls for substantial grid energy immediately. Moreover, these stations can act as grid stabilizers by charging batteries throughout low demand or excessive renewable vitality manufacturing instances, and doubtlessly feeding vitality again into the grid throughout peak demand intervals. The companions famous, “Future deployments of swapping stations can also present grid companies,” although specifics weren’t detailed.
The brand new fleet of 150 Fuso eCanter electrical automobiles and Mitsubishi Kei-car vans will make the most of 14 Ample battery swapping stations, aiming to display how these stations can meet the sensible wants of business EV operators and lay the groundwork for intensive battery swapping in Japan’s largest metropolis.
The challenge stays open to participation from further automotive corporations, fleets, and logistics operators, with contact data supplied for these .
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