International consortium rolls out EV battery swapping initiative in Tokyo

Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation (MFTBC), Mitsubishi Motors, Ample and Yamato Transport have 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, according to a media release.

Japanese shipping and logistics group Yamato will be the initiative’s first major customer and will focus on last mile applications. US battery swapping company Ample will provide battery swapping tech 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.”  

A key 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 don’t 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 media release said.