TOKYO — Japan’s Isuzu Motors is set to launch a new business based on electric trucks that use replaceable batteries, Nikkei has learned, in a drive to make deliveries more efficient.
As part of this push, the truck maker has developed its own unmanned stations where robots can replace depleted batteries in about three minutes. Long recharging times have previously been one of the major obstacles to the takeup of electric lorries, and Isuzu expects to install these facilities at logistics company depots and filling stations around Japan.