Japanese brands collaborate on removable batteries for electric vans

A consortium of Japanese vehicle manufacturers are developing a standardised replaceable and rechargeable battery for use in commercial vehicles.

The concept aims to overcome the challenges of recharging electric vans while they are in-use, using detachable and portable cartridge batteries.

Commercial Japan Partnership Technologies Corporation (CJPT) was launched by Toyota Motor Corporation with Isuzu Motors and Hino Motors in March 2021 and has since been joined by Suzuki and Daihatsu. It is working in partnership with Yamamoto Transport

CJPT intends to advance plans for commercial BEVs that can be powered by cartridge batteries. The company believes that the development of common-specification cartridge batteries and recharging systems for a range of commercial vehicles, from vans to light-duty trucks, will reduce their cost and encourage their widespread use. The company is also looking at ways of matching battery use to actual operational requirements to produce an efficient energy management solution.

Yamamoto Transport aims to build a green delivery ecosystem that includes its transport and delivery partners, working with communities to co-create an electricity utilisation scheme based on the use of cartridge batteries. In addition to promoting the use of green power by eliminating the gap between renewable energy generation peaks and the timing of commercial BEV recharging, the company also intends to study ways of increasing the resilience of electric energy supply communities. This could include, for example, the delivery of cartridge batteries to disaster zones where access to the power infrastructure is compromised.