Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation, Mitsubishi Motors Corporation, Ample Inc., and Yamato Transport Co., Ltd. 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, Japan.

The Tokyo effort follows a smaller battery swapping pilot in Kyoto last year. 

The project will deploy swappable EVs, including Mitsubishi Fuso’s eCanter light-duty truck and Mitsubishi Motors' Minicab EV 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.

Battery-Swapping Pilot in Kyoto

In 2024, Yamato Transport, MFTBC, and Ample ran a successful commercial delivery pilot alongside battery-swapping taxis in Kyoto. The demonstration validated the system’s operational benefits and the ability of Ample's platform to operate simultaneously across different vehicle types and brands. 

The Tokyo effort not only increases operational scale but 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.