11, 50 or 100 kilowatts of charging power? It doesn’t matter at all! Because a simple system pushes this question into the background. After Nio, Stellantis is now starting to change batteries for electric cars. The huge power storage units should be replaced in just five minutes.
Nio is the pioneer of battery replacement. A total of seven Power Swap Stations (PSS) are to be built in Germany or are already in operation: Ulm-Seligweiler (Baden-Württemberg) and Regensburg (Bavaria) are ready for use, for Mühldorf, Geiselwind and Aurach (all in Bavaria) as well as for teaching in Lower Saxony the permits are available. 50 more stations are to follow in Germany. The batteries of the ET5, ET5 Touring, ET7, EL6 and EL7 models can then be replaced within a few minutes at these PSS locations. Important: Rental batteries can also be exchanged. Up to 312 cars can drive to each station per day. 1,500 Nio exchange stations are planned worldwide.
Cooperation with Ample
Now follows Stellantis (Peugeot, Citroen, Fiat, etc.). For this purpose, the group is entering into a cooperation with the US company Ample, which has a finished concept including the necessary technology in its drawer. An empty battery can be exchanged for a full one in just five minutes.
The project is scheduled to start next year in Madrid (Spain). There, 100 electric Fiat 500s are being prepared for the replacement program. The small city cars serve the Stellantis car sharing service Free2move. The Fiat 500 Electric is Stellantis’ best-selling electric vehicle. It is offered worldwide and is a leader in several European EV markets. With modular storage technology, reservations about insufficient range and long charging times should be a thing of the past.
Batteries from Ample are used, for which electric cars are technically prepared. The storage devices are offered as a subscription, which reduces the purchase costs of the electric vehicle, say the Americans.
An exchange station can be set up in just three days.
Stellantis plans to sell 100 percent of new cars in Europe with purely electric drives by 2030.
The Ample company
Ample aims to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles worldwide. The company is pioneering a new method of energy supply through modular battery replacement and can charge any electric vehicle to 100 percent in less than five minutes. Ample was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in San Francisco.
Author
Carsten Hebestreit
Editor Car
Carsten Hebestreit
