Electric car owners know that running out of battery means a trip to an electric charging station. However, this takes longer compared to filling up with gas. This is why San Francisco start-up, Ample, has come up with a new approach to battery swapping. Battery swapping offers the convenience and speed of visiting a gas station, which could help increase electric car range and acceptance. Critics are skeptical and regard battery swapping stations as an expensive solution. But Ample believes their battery swapping system can be successful.
Ample’s battery swapping stations have a drive-through service. A gate slides up to reveal a platform inside. The platform lifts the vehicle and its occupants a few meters, and then removes the used battery modules from the vehicle and inserts new ones. The platform then lowers the vehicle back onto the road and the driver can drive off again with fresh batteries. The discharged batteries are charged in the station itself over several hours and can be used in another vehicle.
The start-up company has already installed a dozen of its first-generation exchange stations in the San Francisco area. They perform a few hundred exchanges each day, each lasting about 10 minutes. Ample is working with Uber to demonstrate that battery replacement can also be helpful for demanding applications such as rental cars. The ultimate vision is to provide ordinary commuters or travelers with the system – as a kind of “drop-in” solution instead of the usual charging with electricity.
The construction of the exchange stations is more expensive than the construction of fast charging stations. Ample has not yet provided any precise information on this. However, one is under the currently known prices of the competitors and models where up to half a million dollars per system came together.
Ample is not the first company to deal with quick battery replacement. Tesla explored the concept in 2013 and then abandoned the plan in favor of its network of superchargers. Better Place was probably the best-known company in the field of battery replacement technology. The company failed to get enough motorists and car manufacturers on board and filed for bankruptcy in 2013.
De Souza, the co-founder and president of Ample, says that Ample’s approach addresses all of the problems that have derailed previous attempts at technology. For a company like Ample to be successful, they must first find a way to be compatible with the vehicles that are on the road, which is the key challenge as companies are increasingly opting for different battery designs and chemistries for different models.
