Marubeni will implement a proof of concept (hereinafter, “PoC”) regarding electric vehicle (hereinafter, “EV”) battery sharing in the logistics industry as a commissioned project under the Japanese Ministry of the Environment with FOMM Corporation (hereinafter, “FOMM”), develops battery swappable EVs.

This PoC has been adopted under the Japanese Ministry of the Environment’s “the Sector Coupling Demonstration Project to integrate the Development of Electric Vehicles (EVs) with Replaceable Batteries and the Utilization of Renewable Energy.”, the purpose of which is decarbonization within the logistics industry in order to build a decarbonized society. Decarbonization within logistics industry, which produces around 20% of total CO₂ emissions in Japan, is essential in order for the country to achieve carbon-neutrality by 2050. EVs currently have many problems like range, refueling time, charging infrastructure and price. Furthermore, for deployment EVs used for commercial vehicles, operational efficiency is more important than for passenger vehicles, long refueling times is one of issues when using EVs for this purpose.

In this PoC, Marubeni and FOMM will deploy battery swappable EVs that can last for 1-mile deliveries, the last section of logistics that delivers products to customers, to be used by a domestic e-commerce company. The PoC will test this battery sharing model. The delivery person driving the deployed EV will swap the battery at designated battery swap stations while delivery packages. Since battery swapping can be done quickly, deliveries will be more efficient due to reduced waiting time for refueling. Batteries that have been returned to the battery swap station will be re-charged by renewable energy and can be re-used with EV.

Marubeni will contribute to decarbonization within the logistics industry through this PoC.

＜Ministry of the Environment＞
MOEJ selected 2 companies to participate in the Sector Coupling Demonstration Project to integrate the Development of EVs with Replaceable Batteries and the Utilization of Renewable Energy

〈About the PoC〉

Period:	From the first half of FY2022 to the end of FY2023 (tentative)
Place:	Area of Kanto (tentative)
Contents:	Deployment of battery swappable EVs within the logistics industry

〈Roles of Participants〉

FOMM:	Developing battery swappable EVs and battery swap infrastructure
Marubeni:	PoC management, evaluation of the operation and study of its feasibility
Domestic e-commerce company:	Test deployment of battery swappable EVs

〈About FOMM〉

Name:	FOMM Corporation
Address:	#217 KBIC, 7-7 Shinkawasaki, Saiwai-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa, 212-0032, Japan
Representative:	Hideo Tsurumaki, President and CEO
Founded:	February, 2013
Business:	①Planning / developing / production / sales / related technology consultants of compact electric vehicle (incl. motorcycle) ②MaaS business ③Whole business related to ① and ②
HP:	https://www.fomm.co.jp/index-en