Will Battery Swap Stations Work for EV Trucks?

• Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation (MFTBC) is collaborating with battery swap station startup Ample to test eCanter trucks converted to this battery pack format.

• Ample is one of a handful of companies developing EV battery packs that can be changed by robots in a matter of minutes at specially built stations, offering an alternative to charging.

• Battery swap stations as a technology are starting to gain interest from automakers, after being largely dismissed in automotive applications for years.

In a short span of time Nio has expanded its battery swap station network not only in China, but also in Europe, bringing this once-dismissed technology to the forefront of EV development. A handful of other companies have followed suit, most notably Ample, which has recently teamed up with Stellantis to offer battery-swap capability in the Fiat 500e.

But can battery swap stations be just as promising for electric trucks?

Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation (MFTBC) is teaming up with Ample in Kyoto City, Japan, for a pilot project that will see the electric Mitsubishi eCanter used by Yamato Transport Co. begin using battery swap stations.

As with passenger cars, the process is completely automatic. The eCanter will be able to enter a station like a car wash, and then robots will swap the batteries out within a target time of five minutes.

"Having battery-swapping EV trucks would further expand the possibilities of EV trucks, by addressing worries about driving ranges, extending applications, and significantly shortening the downtime of vehicles. In addition, by introducing the latest swappable batteries as technology evolves, users can always have access to the most up-to-date battery technology," the automaker says.

As part of this pilot project with Ample and Yamato, the truck maker will study a complete business model for trucks with battery swap capability, intending to commercialize this tech in production models.

Just five years ago battery swap stations seemed like an evolutionary dead end in EV development, with complex and pricey stations essentially competing with DC fast-chargers. The infrastructure demands alone seemed like a vast commitment of resources, especially at a time when faster charging and battery tech was promising to outpace it.

As Nio and Ample have demonstrated, however, stations like these do not necessarily need fast-charging tech of any sort, as the batteries can be charged at much milder rates over the course of one or two days if needed. This can lessen the stress on the grid, as the station can recharge a number of batteries at slower rates, and at hours of its choosing, thereby also preserving battery life.

For now, Mitsubishi and Ample only aim to roll out this tech in Japan, but as Nio has shown with its passenger models, demand for this convenience can translate elsewhere.

"From observing these operations, MFTBC and the other participating companies will identify the benefits and challenges of battery swapping and investigate the scalability of the technology with future practical use in Japan in mind," Mitsubishi says.

The truck fleets that might benefit from this technology might not be able to invest in their own fast-charging infrastructure, which could ultimately make these types of electric trucks more accessible to businesses wary of infrastructure costs. But for this to happen, there would need to be enough geographic coverage by battery swap stations in Japan to begin with.

At the moment, this tech poses the same chicken-and-egg problem as hydrogen cars: There aren't enough hydrogen cars because there aren't enough stations, and there aren't enough stations because people aren't buying enough hydrogen cars.

Will battery swap stations take off in North America, or is this a technology that is likely to remain popular in Asia? Let us know what you think in the comments below.