Stellantis announced a binding partnership agreement with the American company, Ample, which will allow the 100% electric vehicles of the automotive Group’s brands to benefit from battery swapping technology.
The innovative technology allows electric vehicle users to take advantage of a battery swapping station to replace their discharged battery in a matter of minutes.
The newly established agreement stipulates that a fleet of 100 Fiat 500e units from Free2move will be the first to use this technology in the city of Madrid, Spain, starting in 2024, where Ample already has four battery swapping stations and plans to build nine more.
The two companies have not disclosed many details about the agreement, however, Stellantis emphasized that the partnership is part of its strategy to «explore all paths» of electric mobility, as the company intends to only sell 100% electric vehicles in Europe by 2030 and achieve 50% electric vehicle sales in the US by that date.
«The partnership with Ample is another example of how Stellantis is exploring all paths that provide mobility freedom to our electric vehicle customers,» emphasized Ricardo Stamatti, Senior Vice President of the Charging and Energy Business Unit at Stellantis. «In addition to other projects we are focused on, Ample’s Modular Battery Swapping solution has the opportunity to offer our customers greater energy efficiency, excellent performance, and reduced range anxiety. We are looking forward to starting this program with the Fiat 500e.»
It should be noted that battery swapping stations are seen by experts as a solution to address range anxiety and long waits at charging stations, in addition to potentially alleviating pressure on the electrical grid during peak charging hours.
