San Francisco-based startup Ample Inc. is revolutionizing the electric vehicle (EV) charging experience with its battery-swapping stations. Imagine pulling up to one of Ample’s dozen stations, stepping out of your EV and watching as robotic arms carefully extract your depleted battery and replace it with a fully charged one in just 10 minutes. This is a reality, as the company has 12 stations around San Francisco allowing this to happen. This is a significant improvement over the anxiety-inducing slow chargers that take hours to recharge an EV’s battery or the costly fast chargers that can take up to half an hour.
John de Souza, Ample’s co-founder and president, believes that battery swapping could be the key to overcoming EV owners’ “charging anxiety.” Fast charging an EV generates a lot of heat and is prohibitively expensive, but battery-swapping technology makes it possible to replace a depleted battery with a charged one in minutes, without breaking the bank.
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This exciting development in electric vehicle technology is set to transform the industry and provide drivers with greater flexibility and convenience than ever before.
Although many EV owners charge their vehicles overnight at home, battery swapping could be a more viable option for apartment dwellers and those who use their vehicles for work all day. In China, where EV density is high and most drivers live in apartments, battery-swapping companies are proliferating.
The modular battery design can fit into any EV and addresses past challenges, making swapping possible across different car manufacturers. Ample has already formed partnerships with five major automakers, although their names are being kept under wraps.
In addition, Ample’s battery-swapping stations are significantly cheaper to build and install compared to fast-charging stations by up to three to 10 times. This cost-saving measure allows Ample to offer energy at a price that is 10% to 20% cheaper than traditional gasoline, making it an attractive option for environmentally conscious consumers looking to save money on their energy bills.
With a $15 million grant from the California Energy Commission (CEC), Ample plans to expand its battery-swapping stations in the state. This development is significant, not only because it marks the CEC’s first investment in battery swapping but also because it could help address an important gap in the current use case for EVs, especially for Uber drivers.
The Rise of Electric Vehicles
With California’s SB 1014 and the California Air Resource Board’s Clean Miles Standard (CMS) mandating that 90% of vehicle miles traveled by rideshare fleets in California be in zero-emission vehicles by 2030, battery-swapping technology may provide an important avenue for compliance.
The rise of micromobility solutions and electric vehicles has dominated much of the investing space in recent years. The monumental rise of Tesla Inc. and Rivian Automotice Inc. massive $120 billion IPO have become staples of the electric vehicle space and automotive investing market. In the retail startup investing market, startups like Civilized Cycles have seen substantial traction among retail investors. The startup recently launched on Wefunder, which means anyone can invest for a limited time.
This is precisely why Uber Technologies Inc. has endorsed Ample’s approach to electrification, with the ride-hailing company’s Public Policy Manager Seth Smith stating, “Ample’s innovative approach to electrification fills an important gap in the current use case for EVs and Uber drivers in particular.”
Battery-swapping technology has come a long way since early EV fleets experimented with it in the 1940s. But some more recent attempts at commercializing the technology were not successful. For instance, Better Place, an Israeli startup that launched in 2007, went out of business in 2013. Tesla tried to make battery swapping work by opening a single station in 2013 but quickly shut it down because of lack of usage.
Despite these setbacks, Ample has made significant strides in developing and implementing a battery-swapping system that is both cost-effective and user-friendly.
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