Most drivers are used to pulling up to a gas pump and refueling in a matter of minutes.
Recharging an EV is a more time-consuming endeavor. But what if it could take the same amount of time?
California-based startup Ample is among the companies betting on the idea that drivers—especially commercial fleet operators—would rather swap out vehicle batteries when it’s running low on juice. Ample claims it can swap out a battery in about five minutes—similar to a trip to the gas station.
After partnering with Uber in California, Ample is now testing its business in Japan. Earlier this month, the company unveiled a partnership with truck manufacturer Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation (MFTBC) and delivery-service provider Yamato Transport to use swapping stations during some of Yamato’s deliveries in Kyoto.
The demonstration will allow the companies to “identify the benefits and challenges of battery swapping and investigate the scalability of the technology with future practical use in Japan in mind,” MFTBC said in a news release.
John de Souza, president and co-founder of Ample, told Tech Brew that the company focused on solving three challenges: how to make sure automakers didn’t have to redesign vehicles to enable battery swapping; coming up with a solution that works across vehicle models; and how to build infrastructure quickly and inexpensively.
The solution they came up with is Ample’s modular architecture, which the company claims is compatible with any EV. Ample describes its EV battery as “Lego-like battery modules that can accommodate any make, design, model or driving profile.”
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Installation of Ample’s stations can be done in as little as three days, de Souza said.
Switch on: The swapping process itself is automated—drivers simply pull through the station, where robots switch out the depleted battery for a charged one.
And as Tech Brew previously reported, commercial fleet operators could benefit from being able to swap their batteries quickly so they can get back to their routes.
Still, battery swapping hasn’t taken off in the US despite previous efforts. The practice is most popular in China thanks to strides by companies like Nio, which says it has completed tens of millions of battery swaps.
Japan, de Souza said, has been “a perfect market to go into. They’re not new to EVs. They know what the constraints of charging are, and they’re open to solutions that work.”
Master worldwide: Japan lags behind other major auto markets on electrification. Last year, just 2.2% of all new passenger car sales in the country were EVs, Nikkei Asia reported. EVs made up more than 7% of new-vehicle sales in the US last year, and about a quarter in China. But Japan plans to ban new combustion-engine vehicles by 2035.
For the auto aficionado, Ample also is working with Stellantis to power a fleet of Fiat 500es for the automaker’s car-sharing service in Spain.
Ultimately, he said, it comes down to a simple consideration: “Longer range translates into bigger cost. From a consumer perspective, do you really want to pay for that?”