- Is An Ample Swapping Station Compatible With Any EV?
- OEM Batteries Vs. Ample’s Own Cells
- Can We Expect The Same Range From Ample Replacement Cells?
- Battery Performance In A High-Perfomance EV
Is a five-minute battery swap the answer to congested charging stations?
Ample is one of a handful of companies pushing forward with battery-swapping stations for electric vehicles, essentially eliminating the time it takes to charge up the conventional way, and CarBuzz reached out to a company representative to find out more about how it operates.
The company currently functions across the Bay Area in San Francisco and already works with fleet partners like Uber and Sally. Ample used the example of an Uber driver that drove for 120 miles before returning to an Ample station for a battery swap, a process that allegedly takes just five minutes. That’s compared to last-mile delivery fleets where Ample says drivers spend 25% of their work week – or 10-12 hours – at increasingly congested charging stations. The battery-swapping process, then, sounds almost too good to be true in terms of time saved, but we wanted to clarify a few points.
Is An Ample Swapping Station Compatible With Any EV?
Firstly, we wanted to find out if Ample does actually cater to any type of vehicle or brand, which the company’s website seems to indicate. We specifically referenced a more extreme EV like the Rimac Nevera, whereby its battery is an integral part of its structure. Could such a car still make use of an Ample swap station?
“Yes, that is correct,” said an Ample company representative. “Ample works with the OEM at the manufacturing stage to offer vehicles equipped with Ample's swapping system. Our shoebox-size modular batteries fit within an adaptor plate that is a drop-in replacement for the original battery. That makes us compatible with any type [of] EV, where a battery can be removed and replaced. Most cars are designed as such to ensure the ability to maintain and upgrade the battery.”
That last point, that “most cars are designed as such,” does seem to indicate that a minority of EVs won’t be able to use an Ample charging station.
“Ample's solution requires no modification to the vehicle itself, so it is easy for the OEMs to integrate it into their manufacturing process. Only the modular batteries are swapped at the station, hence the station can support various car models with the same set of batteries. Ample has established partnerships with five leading OEMs, with some collaborations already announced and others soon to be disclosed.”
For now, we know that Ample has tested its battery-swapping station with the likes of a Fiat 500e, a Nissan Leaf, the new Fisker Ocean, and a Kia Niro.
OEM Batteries Vs. Ample’s Own Cells
We then queried whether the battery swaps were for an OEM-equivalent battery or Ample-badged cells in a casing, as the company's video indicated that the latter was true.
“Any vehicles utilizing Ample's stations are already equipped with Ample's batteries. Ample's batteries are functionally equivalent to an OEM's original battery but vary in that they have a compact modular design that allows for a much higher degree of customization and faster swapping capabilities.”
That in itself opens up a number of other potential problems though…
Can We Expect The Same Range From Ample Replacement Cells?
If the batteries are Ample cells, what does that mean in terms of range or other specifications? Battery swapping sounds convenient, but not if the swapped battery has an inferior range to the original one. And just because a customer swapped a battery today doesn't necessarily mean they'll be close enough to a swapping station the next day.
“The range of Ample's batteries is comparable to an EV's traditional batteries. However, Ample's users can decide how many batteries they want in their car at any given time based on their specific needs. A person who drives short distances may opt for fewer batteries for day-to-day usage but has the option at any time to add additional batteries ahead of a long road trip. Because Ample owns the batteries, users don't have to worry about battery degradation.”
This sounds like a promising solution, but we'd love to hear about some real-world use cases from owners with popular EVs.
Battery Performance In A High-Perfomance EV
Finally, we wanted to find out whether something like a Rimac Nevera, whereby cells need to charge and discharge rapidly, would be affected in terms of performance.
“The performance of an EV using Ample’s batteries is comparable to that of one that isn’t,” said the representative from Ample. “Unlike an EV with original batteries, a vehicle that utilizes Ample’s batteries will have a longer lifespan, as battery degradation is no longer a concern. There may be outlier EVs that have needs that are incompatible with swapping but Ample’s goal is to support [99% of] use cases.”
For now, then, it seems that the pros outweigh the cons. Of course, Ample would need to expand its stations to more regions to really make a difference, and we do still have concerns about the percentage of EVs that will be compatible with battery swapping.
What can't be argued is that battery swapping can get you back on the road with a long range while saving you plenty of time that would otherwise be spent parked at a charging station.
As for which automakers will join Ample on its mission, well, BMW does not seem to be one of them. Last year, a representative from the German automaker said that the charging and logistics infrastructure needed for battery swapping stations did not seem practical. Considering how long it's still taking for the charging network to keep pace with the number of new EVs on the road, we can understand this concern.
That's not going to stop Ample, though, which says its latest station design supports a swap time of five minutes and can accommodate both small cars and large delivery trucks. The platforms take a mere three days to install, too.
For no other reason than customer convenience, we hope Ample succeeds.
Keyword: San Francisco Startup's 5-Minute EV Battery Swaps Are As Easy As Filling Up With Gas