The Stellantis automaker is converting 100 of its cars to work with a modular battery replacement system.
The main problem for electric vehicle manufacturers is still the long charging time and limited battery life, which ultimately leads to its wear and tear.. However, it seems that Ample, together with Stellantis, have found a solution to this problem, and have already begun to adapt their own cars to the new technology.
We are talking about a batch of one hundred units of the 2024 Fiat 500-e. The vehicles will not be sold to customers, but will instead become part of the fleet of Stellantis-owned Free2Move and will operate exclusively in Madrid.
In their joint statement, the companies said they plan to expand the program to other regions and to other vehicles manufactured by Stellantis.
Ample have developed a special modular platform that serves as a battery replacement station. The owner of the electric vehicle just needs to stop by and the station will replace the battery in just 5 minutes. According to the company, such a station takes only three days to install and can be easily moved from place to place.
Stellantis estimates that such stations are significantly cheaper than DC fast charging stations. Experts predict that such a solution will significantly reduce the cost of electric vehicles, because thanks to this development it will be possible to sell cars without batteries, and owners will have to choose whether to purchase a battery from the car manufacturer or from another brand.
Previously, Tesla was studying a similar solution, but the company abandoned this idea.. Also, similar technology was presented by the Chinese company Nio, where there are already thousands of similar stations, and the company recently began installing them in Europe.