Wide to bring EV battery change to Mitsubishi trucks in Japan
[ad_1]
start up san francisco Broad is bringing its modular electric vehicle battery swapping technology to Mitsubishi Fuso electric trucks this winter, the company said Tuesday. This is the first time Ample’s technology has been used for large vehicles. The company’s technology is currently being used on a small scale for hail vehicles in San Francisco and Madrid.
The partnership with Mitsubishi is based on Ample’s work with Japanese energy company Eneos to implement the sharing infrastructure for fleets to use. Ample did not say how many interchange stations will arrive in Japan this winter, but it will be “more than one station” for the initial deployment in Kyoto.
Ample’s technology will be incorporated into Mitsubishi’s Fuso eCanter, a light commercial truck. It is not clear how many trucks will have Ample’s independent vehicle batteries, nor which fleet partners have signed on. An Ample spokesperson told TechCrunch that the initial fleets will be used for last-mile delivery.
The startup says its next-generation swap stations have improved over previous models and can swap out a battery in five minutes. With DC fast charging, a car could take anywhere from 15 minutes to almost an hour to fully charge.
Ample’s moves in Japan come after the company recently opened two stations in Madrid and says it is in the process of rolling out more. The company is working with Moove, a Madrid-based mobility fleet that offers ride-sharing vehicles on the Uber platform. Ample recently received a €10 million grant from the Spanish government to help expand the rollout.
EV battery sharing hasn’t taken much hold in the US, where most innovation goes to charging stations. But in other parts of the world, such as China, battery swapping is becoming more popular. Beijing is supporting some companies that are advancing the technology as part of its broader plan to ensure that 25% of all cars sold by 2025 are electric.
The Chinese electric vehicle maker Nio, for example, has already been building stations and in March began testing a more efficient type of station that can store up to 21 battery packs and swap in less than five minutes. Nio has a goal of reaching 2,300 battery swapping stations worldwide by the end of 2023.
[ad_2]
Source link
