Battery swap startup Ample looks to accelerate the electrification of last-mile delivery vehicles – particularly those from Mitsubishi Fuso. The two companies announced a new global partnership this morning in which Ample will implement its EV battery swap technology on Mitsubishi Fuso trucks to sell to fleets around the world.
Ample is a California-based startup that continues to chip away at its ambitious goal of helping put 1 billion electric vehicles on roads around the world. The startup’s particular forte is modular battery swap stations that can get EVs back on the road more quickly.
Ample began deploying its first generation of autonomous battery-swapping stations around San Francisco in the spring of 2021, establishing and gathering data while working with rideshare companies like Uber and last-mile delivery startup Sally.
When it introduced its second-generation swap station this past May, Ample pointed out that electric last-mile fleet vehicles, in particular, can spend upward of 10-12 hours of a work week sitting at a charging station. To expedite this process, Ample has not only added battery swap capabilities for larger EV models but also cut its entire swap process down from ten to five minutes.
All the while, Ample has been working behind the scenes with Mitsubishi Fuso to ensure its swap stations can support the size of the latter’s electric vehicles – a relationship that evolved in the partnership announced today.
Ample and Mitsubishi Fuso to bring battery swaps to Japan
This morning, Ample shared a blog post detailing its new partnership with Mitsubishi Fuso, which remains majority-owned by Daimler Trucks and is currently in the process of merging with Toyota’s Hino Motors into a publicly-traded holding company.
Ample shared that when designing its latest swap station, it was working alongside Mitsubishi Fuso to ensure last-mile deliveries could fit and swap EV batteries quickly to help expedite the electrification of that particular segment.
The result of the partnership will deliver Mitsubishi Fuso electric trucks equipped with Ample’s modular battery swap technology. Fuso’s North American business nixed new truck sales in 2020, so the initial rollout of battery-swappable models will begin with the new Fuso eCanter this winter in Japan. Per Ample’s blog post:
We’re delighted to partner with Mitsubishi Fuso who is pushing the industry towards sustainability including its ambitious goal to build a completely carbon neutral product portfolio in Japan by 2039. We’re also thrilled to be working with such an innovative and strategic partner with whom we can accelerate electrifying the last-mile delivery sector.
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