GoCimo and the city of Stockholm pilots new cargo vehicle with battery swap

Small vehicles are becoming an increasingly important part of urban transport, with benefits such as less congestion and flexibility. However, this also means these vehicles must be emission—and noise-free. Stockholm is now investing in a demonstration of sustainable micro transport through the STOLT project—Stockholm Local Transition* —which demonstrates solutions for an emission-free city center by 2030.

"We see great benefits in shifting from large fossil-fuelled vehicles driving in the city to small light electric vehicles. It provides a more pleasant urban environment with reduced congestion, lower emissions, and close to zero noise. This is why we are investing in a new demonstration project that starts right now", says Lars Strömgren (MP), Transport Mayor of Stockholm City.

Small electric vehicles account for a growing share of deliveries and transport in the city, but their electrification poses challenges different from those of cars. There are no public chargers for these vehicles, and with their smaller batteries, more frequent charging is required.

This is why a new battery swap solution is being used, which allows a discharged battery to be exchanged for a charged one in 10 seconds conveniently and safely. This takes place in stations located in all neighborhoods of Stockholm City. The battery swap solution is provided by the company GoCimo, which is establishing an infrastructure of battery swap stations in European cities. Today, the infrastructure is used by electric mopeds and motorcycles. Still, this project will integrate a 3-wheel, light electric vehicle with a cargo capacity of 2,5 cubic meters to use the battery swapping infrastructure. EVIG from Clean Motion will be developed and tested using this battery swap technology. 

"EVIG is already one of the most energy-efficient light electric vehicles on the market, and with battery swap, we are taking another step towards making urban transport even more efficient," said William Collings, CTO of Clean Motion.

"EVIG is designed for customisability, and we see great potential in developing EVIG with battery swap support. The technology around modular battery systems has matured significantly, and the charging and swapping infrastructure ecosystem has grown rapidly. Having small electric vehicles in this infrastructure is an important step towards generalisation and wider use of the infrastructure."

Foodora will be using EVIG in its daily operations to verify the benefits.

"We are constantly striving to make our delivery fleet more sustainable and efficient," says Daniel Gustafsson Raba, COO at foodora. "Working with several types of electric vehicles sharing the same battery solution gives us a clear advantage in our daily work - both from a logistical and environmental perspective." 

"We have had the infrastructure with the battery swap stations in place for over a year and see that it works very well, so we want to take the next step and add additional vehicles for other use cases so that more transport can be done with small electric vehicles.", says Mattias Tingvall CEO at GoCimo.

This initiative is part of the city of Stockholm's strategy to create a more sustainable, vibrant, and attractive urban environment. Electrified and silent transport reduces congestion, air pollution, and noise levels while maximising transport efficiency.

*The project is part of the City of Stockholm's initiative to demonstrate solutions for an emission-free inner city in 2030 with Viable Cities/Vinnova funding.