Battery swapping technology has seen use mostly in two-wheel electric vehicles, but Isuzu is studying its feasibility for use in larger utility vehicles. As reported by Nikkei, the truck manufacturer is conducting a pilot program to see if battery-swapping can work on heavy-duty vehicles like Isuzu Elf EV-based electric garbage trucks.
In theory, this would minimize downtime caused by refueling or recharging needs. Yuta Takamatsu, vice president of the engineering division at Isuzu, claimed that a battery swap could be done faster than a charging station top-up or a gas station refuel. Isuzu demonstrated this process to Japanese media last month. Full Load reported that it took just just three minutes to replace the truck’s depleted batteries with fresh ones, after which it resumed service.
Charging speed and availability are some of the inherent weaknesses of EVs today, and this is especially true for heavy duty trucks. Charging an electric garbage truck back to full could take as long as 10 hours even with fast charging. With multiple trucks fast-charging simultaneously, power consumptions and costs can spike dramatically.
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However, a battery-swapping setup has its own tradeoffs. A single truck battery swapping station is currently over thrice the size of the electric garbage truck itself, requiring a large amount of space to set up. A sizeable upfront cost also hurts its scalability. Besides these infrastructure challenges, the lack of a unified standard for electric truck battery size and placement also complicates widespread deployment.
The pilot program is currently ongoing in Yokohama, and will run through March 2028. Despite the challenges encountered with battery swapping, city officials are optimistic for the study’s success.
Other battery-swapping ventures are also ongoing in Japan right now. Isuzu is currently working with convenience store chain FamilyMart to deploy battery-swapping in delivery trucks in a similar effort to minimize downtime and boost efficiency. Mitsubishi is also working with logistics company Yamato Transport to add light-duty battery-swappable electric trucks for its delivery fleet.
Trucks are one of the biggest machines out there still using internal combustion engines. It’s good to see EV technology being used to make them more green.
