![]() ![]() "Typically, you have the high-current connector, you have the big bolts that are holding most of the weight, and all that needs taking out. Since the modules are already developed, Ample just has to develop a new adapter plate for each new model of EV that it supports.īut since the modules are always identical, that means the stations can service different makes of EV, and it simplifies the swapping process. "That has the same shape, the same bolt fasteners, the same connector as the original battery," Hassounah said. Instead, we build what we call an Ample adapter plate."Īmple's video demonstrates how the battery swap stations work.Īmple gets the specs of a battery pack from an OEM, then designs a structural frame for the pack that can accept its modules while still meeting all the same engineering requirements as the OEM pack. "One of them is, because our batteries are modular, we really don't have a format that we need the automakers to adapt to or that has to fit into all of the available systems. But we sought to change that in two fundamental ways," Hassounah explained. "That's a logical conclusion, or prediction, of how it would work. And since there's no permanent structure, new stations shouldn't be held up by red tape and permits-again, unlike DC fast-charging stations.īy now, many of you are probably thinking the same thing I thought when I first heard about the idea: wouldn't this require significant re-engineering of an EV? And that's why we're able to serve the whole Bay Area, for example, with multiple stations in a matter of a few weeks," he told me this morning.Įach station charges a few batteries at a constant rate, so there's no need for the huge power demands (or demand fees) that DC fast-charging stations require. Literally, everything is flat pack shipped, we assemble it on site, test it, turn it on, and we have the swapping station. All we need is a couple of parking spots that are flat enough, and then within a few days-typically a week-we can get a station up and running. ![]() ![]() So our station actually needs no construction, no digging in the ground. "One of them is the station becomes a lot simpler. "The moment you break the battery into smaller modular pieces, a lot of things become easier," said Khaled Hassounah, one of Ample's co-founders. And in China, Nio has 131 battery swap stations that completed more than a half-million battery swaps by August of last year. This was meant to swap a pack in 90 seconds but in practice took up to 15 minutes, and it was rendered irrelevant by the success of the Supercharger network. Tesla tried it, too, with a single experimental station midway between Los Angeles and San Francisco that started testing in 2013. In 2007, Better Place tried to make the idea work, but EVs were too much in their infancy, and Israel was too small a market for that to happen. The idea of slow-charging EV batteries and then quickly swapping spent packs for fresh ones is not exactly new. As a result, no one minds if their V12-powered grand tourer can't make it 200 miles before stopping, since they know they'll only be stationary for a few minutes.īattery EVs, on the other hand, need to be sold with as much battery as can be crammed underneath the cabin, and even the fastest-charging BEVs currently on sale still take more than 20 minutes to charge back to 80 percent-and even then only with 350 kW fast chargers that are still relatively uncommon. Since the creation of the first gas station in 1905, society has become accustomed to rapidly refueling with liquid hydrocarbons. Rightly or wrongly, charging times and charging infrastructure are probably the biggest stumbling blocks to widespread electric vehicle adoption. The first five of these are now operational in the Bay Area, servicing a fleet of Uber EVs equipped with Ample's modular battery system. So instead of building one big location able to handle hundreds of cars a day, Ample's plan is to build numerous small stations, which can be deployed quickly. The company has designed an extremely small footprint for its swap stations, which only occupy as much ground as a couple standard parking spaces and don't need much in the way of electrical infrastructure. On Wednesday morning in San Francisco, a startup called Ample launched its new electric vehicle battery-swap technology. ![]()
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