In the world of electric vehicles, there was once a bold startup named Better Place. They took a big risk, betting that drivers would prefer swapping out depleted batteries for fresh ones in minutes, instead of waiting hours to recharge. This was a time when electric vehicles had much more limited range and charging options were sparse.

Better Place’s fortunes took a turn when Elon Musk unveiled a free fast-charging network for Tesla owners, rendering their battery-swapping stations obsolete. The startup ultimately went bankrupt, leaving investors, including Morgan Stanley, General Electric, and HSBC, in the red by more than $750 million. Battery swapping seemed destined for the technology graveyard, at least in the United States.

The practice, however, is now making a comeback. Enter Ample Inc., a San Francisco startup that has been quietly deploying robotic battery-swap stations throughout the Bay Area and Europe over the past two years. Recently, they unveiled their latest generation of swapping stations that can replace a drained battery with a fully charged one in just five minutes – half the time it used to take.

With Ample’s process, battery swapping is experiencing a revival. It offers electric vehicle owners a fast and convenient alternative to recharging, eliminating the need to wait for hours.

Ample founders Khaled Hassounah and John de Souza launched their company just a year after the failure of Better Place. However, they set themselves apart with a unique business model and innovative battery-swapping technology.

“We were going to do a better Better Place,” says Hassounah, who is also CEO.

The company, being backed by $270 million in funding since its establishment in 2014, is primarily focused on providing fast and efficient charging solutions for ridesharing and delivery fleets, ensuring minimal downtime for electric vehicles.

“We’re going to be a lot cheaper than fast charging,” says Hassounah. “If you can charge at home, you should. But if you park on the street, if you live in a condo building or drive for a fleet, that’s not possible.”

At Ample’s demo station, a striking white and yellow structure with the phrase “Electric cars for everyone,” the process of swapping electric car batteries is made incredibly efficient. As an employee pulls up in a silver Kia Niro, they are guided to the correct parking spot by a screen. A platform then elevates the car a few feet off the ground, revealing a robot that promptly scans the underside to verify the battery details. The robot swiftly retrieves the battery, returning it to the storage area for recharging, and replaces it with a fully charged battery. The entire process is seamless, allowing the Niro to drive off as soon as the platform lowers.

“We want to be the gas station of electric,” says Hassounah.

Ample’s swap station is a smaller, more affordable alternative to the multimillion-dollar stations previously used by Better Place. Unlike traditional stations, Ample’s modular structure is not only cost-effective (coming in at under $100,000) but also compact enough to fit in a shipping container. The best part? It can be set up and ready to go in just three days. Plus, with Ample’s slow-charging batteries, there’s no need for the lengthy and expensive process of installing high-voltage infrastructure.

Complex electrical upgrades are hindering San Francisco’s progress towards its goal of eliminating fossil fuel vehicles by 2040, according to Tyrone Jue, the city’s chief climate and sustainability officer. “We have this dense urban environment, very crowded streets and competing desires for electrical grid capacity as well as just for curb space,” he said at an Ample event on June 20. “If we’re going to say that every home needs a charger and every home needs to upgrade their circuit panel, we’re not going to reach our climate goals.”

Ample has learned a valuable lesson from the failure of Better Place: the significance of convincing automakers to produce electric vehicles (EVs) with swappable batteries. Unlike Better Place, whose battery switch stations could only accommodate a single model from Renault, Ample has developed its own modular battery packs that can be customized for any vehicle. It collaborates with automakers to create removable adapter plates.

Currently, Ample has formed partnerships with five vehicle manufacturers and has designed adapter plates for 20 different models of EVs. During their demonstration, they showcased a Fiat 500, a Citroen van created by Stellantis, the Niro, a Nissan Leaf, Fisker Inc.’s Ocean SUV, and an urban mini-car from German manufacturer e.Go, all stored in Ample’s warehouse.

E.Go Chairman Ali Vezvaei says his company designed its e.wave X EV with swappable batteries. “We genuinely believe that this is a great solution to address a lot of infrastructure issues,” he says. “Sooner or later you will see a transformation in fuel stations, like where you go to change a tire there will be a battery change station.

“If we want to get past the current stage of EVs in terms of mass scale, you need to address the convenience and reliability of energy delivery to customer,” Vezvaei adds.

Every day, Ample’s 12 stations complete hundreds of battery swaps for Uber drivers who lease electric vehicles from Sally. Ample is expanding their reach by deploying swap stations at gas stations in Madrid owned by their investor, Repsol, and they have also secured an agreement to install stations in Kyoto, Japan.

One of the advantages of Ample’s service is that fleet customers have the option to purchase electric vehicles with or without batteries. The costliest component of the vehicle, the batteries, can be included in the purchase or subscribed to separately. The company has not disclosed the fee for their swapping service, but customers are required to pay an “energy fee” each time they swap batteries. Prices for battery swaps range around $13 for a 32-kilowatt-hour pack.

The adoption of battery swapping as a mainstream option in the U.S. relies on more automakers collaborating with companies like Ample. In the past, Tesla’s decision to abandon battery swapping hindered earlier efforts, despite Elon Musk considering the idea when Better Place introduced their first stations.

“We did design the Model S to enable battery pack swap, and I said it should be possible to swap out battery packs in under a minute,” Musk said in 2012, claiming that Better Place got the swapping idea from Tesla. “I do think charging is what most people are going to do.”

Better Place Chairman Idan Ofer was optimistic about the future of battery swapping technology, but also recognized the need to explore markets outside of the U.S. to lead the way. He was right, as countries like India, Taiwan, and China have embraced battery swapping for electric mopeds and cars. China, in particular, has over 1,500 swapping stations with plans to have 26,000 by 2025. However, these stations are usually run by automakers and only use their own batteries.

The recent unveiling of Ample’s battery swapping station at an event indicates a growing interest in the U.S. for this technology. Notable attendees included representatives from Amazon, Blackstone, HSBC, and Volvo, suggesting that the interest is attracting attention from prominent companies.

Source: Transport Topics