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Until March 2028, commercial vehicle manufacturer Isuzu Motors will work with the City of Yokohama to test whether automated battery swapping can increase the operating time of electric municipal vehicles. Under the project, the two depleted traction batteries in the electric vehicles are exchanged for fully charged packs at dedicated swapping stations. According to media reports, the process takes around three minutes. The electric refuse truck can then immediately resume its route. A video shared by Isuzu on LinkedIn shows the battery swapping process in operation.
With the pilot project, Isuzu aims to address a key challenge facing battery-electric commercial vehicles in municipal applications: even when using fast chargers, electric refuse trucks require significant charging time. At the same time, the compaction systems consume additional energy, reducing operating range and vehicle availability. Battery swapping is intended to significantly reduce these periods of downtime. The manufacturer is pursuing several approaches to improve the availability of electrified commercial vehicles.
Earlier this spring, Isuzu and Toyota announced the development of a light-duty fuel-cell truck, which also focuses on rapid energy replenishment. While fuel-cell vehicles can be refuelled within minutes, battery swapping is intended to eliminate lengthy charging breaks for battery-electric vehicles.
Other manufacturers are also testing the concept. Mitsubishi Fuso, for example, is working with Yamato Transport to trial swappable batteries for light-duty electric trucks. Whether the technology can progress beyond pilot projects will depend, among other factors, on infrastructure costs and greater standardisation of battery systems across vehicles.
asia.nikkei.com, linkedin.com (video battery exchange)