International Consortium Rolls Out Major EV Battery Swapping Initiative in Tokyo
MFTBC, Mitsubishi Motors, Ample and Yamato Transport to pilot battery swapping EVs from September 2025, targeting broad commercializationProject backed by Tokyo Metropolitan Government's "Technology Development Support Project for Promoting New Energy" Mitsubishi Fuso andMitsubishi Motors providing battery-swappable electric vehiclesAmple installing modular battery swapping stations across Tokyo for over 150 commercial EVsYamato Transport testing swappable EVs for last-mile delivery operationsTOKYO, June 6, 2025 - (JCN Newswire via SeaPRwire.com) - Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation (MFTBC), Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (Mitsubishi Motors), Ample Inc. (Ample) and Yamato Transport Co., Ltd. (Yamato Transport) announced a multi-year pilot program beginning September 2025 to deploy more than 150 battery-swappable commercial electric vehicles (EVs) and 14 modular battery swapping stations across Tokyo.The Tokyo effort follows a smaller battery swapping pilot in Kyoto last year. The project will deploy swappable EVs, including MFTBC's eCanter light-duty truck and Mitsubishi Motors' Minicab EV (a kei-car class commercial electric vehicle with monobox design) to serve commercial delivery fleets. Yamato Transport, Japan’s largest shipping and logistics group and a leader in electrification, will be the initiative’s first major customer and will focus on last mile applications. The American battery swapping company Ample will provide battery swapping technology for the participating EV platforms and will install and operate swapping stations.The project is supported by the Tokyo Metropolitan Environment Public Corporation through its "Technology Development Support Project for Promoting New Energy." The effort directly supports Japan’s ambitious economy-wide climate goal to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 46% from 2013 levels by 2030, achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. The transportation sector accounted for roughly 19% of the country's total CO₂ emissions as of 2022, making commercial fleet electrification a strategic priority in Japan's decarbonization efforts.A foundational goal of the effort is to minimize vehicle downtime during charging. The Tokyo consortium targets battery swapping times of just 5 minutes. Unlike conventional charging or refueling, battery swapping is fully automated—drivers never need to exit their vehicles. Ample's compact, rapidly deployable stations provide a practical solution for high-utilization fleets in dense urban environments like Tokyo. Future deployments of swapping stations may also provide grid services, such as storing renewable energy, further strengthening their contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.The current initiative expands upon earlier collaboration between participants. Yamato Transport’s efforts to commercialize EV battery swapping for fleets stretch back as far as 2022. In 2024, Yamato Transport, MFTBC and Ample ran a successful commercial delivery pilot alongside battery swapping taxis in Kyoto. The demonstration validated both the system’s operational benefits as well the ability of Ample's platform to operate simultaneously across different vehicle types and brands. The Tokyo effort not only increases operational scale, it also expands the number of automotive participants to include Mitsubishi Motors, a pioneer in the commercial EV segment.The partnership’s goal is to demonstrate how battery swapping can support the real-world demands of commercial EV operators and to establish a backbone for commercial battery swapping in Japan’s largest city. The project remains open to additional automakers, fleets and logistics operators. Interested parties please address inquiries to fleets@ample.com. Copyright 2025 JCN Newswire via SeaPRwire.com.
