If recharging an electric vehicle still requires patience, Ample intends to revolutionize the market by radically reducing the charging time thanks to battery exchange.
A battery exchange in just 5 minutes
A few years ago, cell phone batteries were interchangeable. A technology abandoned in favor of fully sealed batteries. ample, an American start-up that has raised colossal funds during the summer of 2021, placing on a similar solution for electric vehicles. Today even the fastest chargers require long minutes before reaching a satisfactory level of charge. With the battery swap imagined by Ample, recharging will only take 5 minutes.
The rapid development of the electric vehicle market has prompted several major manufacturers, including Tesla in 2014, to develop technology like this. Most eventually abandoned the project. As a specialist in battery swapping, Ample now seems to have a leg up on the competition. On its website, the company explains that its mission is “ accelerate the transition to electric mobility by offering an energy delivery solution as fast, convenient and cheap as gasoline, while being powered by 100% renewable energy ».
New generation stations easy to install
Concretely, with the battery swap, Ample is able to promise owners of electric vehicles refueling faster than with a combustion engine car. To accelerate the democratization of this new charging method, the young American company has designed stations that are easy to install. The company speaks of a ” modular design that can be deployed in just a few days “. According to the manufacturer, the battery exchange stations of second generation were designed to facilitate the transition to electric with an equally fast, simple and inexpensive solution ».
These new stations make it possible to halve the exchange time, which goes from 10 to 5 minutes. In practice, when a vehicle approaches the Ample station, it is recognized and the doors open to let it enter. Once parked, the driver can swap the battery from his smartphone, thanks to the Ample app. After 5 minutes, the battery has been changed and the vehicle can be driven again.
If Ample manages to deploy this technology on a large scale, it could be a small revolution for the electric vehicle market.
