The Japanese government’s Environment Ministry has come up with a new twist in the push to get more electric trucks on the road, particularly for urban delivery work: Swappable batteries.
In co-operation with truckmakers, the Ministry is proposing to increase the uptake of electric delivery trucks by running trials next year using swap batteries at logistics centres – improving the efficiency of etrucks.
Also, to increase the green credentials of the electric trucks, the Ministry plans to recharge the etruck batteries using power generated locally – from renewable energy sources including solar and wind power.
It believes that battery electric trucks have been adopted on a limited scale because of their short range and the time taken to recharge their batteries.
The Ministry says that logistics centres with battery recharging capabilities will also be invaluable during times of natural disasters or even power outages – with the etrucks still able to deliver food and other supplies.
Businesses taking part in the test will be asked to sign an agreement to use the logistics centres (and their battery charging capabilities) as distribution bases during civil emergencies.
There is a precedent for the swappable batteries concept: Japan Post and some food delivery companies in Japan are already using them to keep electric motorcycles running for long periods.