Battery exchange Electric cars may be a bit like communism. It’s great in theory, but so far it’s only really popular in China.
But unlike communism, battery swapping could bring freedom to a wide range of people, allowing them to participate in the transition to EVs in ways that traditional built-in batteries couldn’t. This is why battery replacement models continue to be revisited.
enough is the latest example. The company announced Thursday that it has partnered with Stellantis to deploy battery replacement technology in the automaker’s Fiat 500e city car. The companies will launch the first phase in Madrid, where 100 cars from Stellantis’ car-sharing service Free2move will be retrofitted to accept Ampoule’s modular batteries.
Ampoule has improved the station so that changing it takes just five minutes, which is about the same time it takes to refuel a fossil-fueled car. For car owners, switching to an EV is much easier as battery replacements are quick. For Ample, swapping allows batteries to be recharged more slowly than fast charging, reducing electricity bills and increasing cell life.
Fleets are an obvious test bed, allowing fleet owners to maximize the uptime of their expensive assets. That’s why Ample targeted fleets first, from car-sharing and ride-sharing customers to trucking companies. But the startup and Stellantis are exploring what battery replacement would look like for individual owners.
Source: techcrunch.com
