A US-based EV battery-swapping startup is taking its tech to Tokyo—but uncertainty around the EV transition is holding back similar moves in the US.
That’s according to John de Souza, president and co-founder of Ample, which is leveraging Asia and Europe’s electrification momentum to deploy its tech overseas.
Ample claims that its automated battery-swapping process enables a 100% charge in less than five minutes, while also being cheaper than juicing up at a public fast-charging station.
Ample’s swapping process is compatible with any type of EV, according to the company. It’s focused on commercial fleets, and has partnerships with Uber, Fiat, and Mitsubishi Motors, among others.
Earlier this month, Ample announced it would be launching a “first-of-its-kind battery swapping network” in Tokyo, the world’s largest city, in partnership with the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, as well as Mitsubishi Fuso, Mitsubishi Motors, and Yamato Transport, which will use Ample’s stations to charge commercial EVs.
“It’s a massive city with a huge need for electrification,” de Souza said. “So for us, Tokyo alone is a massive, massive opportunity that we need to go after.”
From Madrid to Tokyo: In a news release, Ample touted the project as “Japan’s first large-scale EV battery swapping initiative tailored for commercial fleets.” It’ll start with 150 electric trucks and vans, and 14 battery swapping stations located along delivery routes.
Tokyo is an attractive market for battery swapping, de Souza said, because of its long history of being a hub for automotive innovation, a supportive local government (the Tokyo Metropolitan Government provided grant funding), and the presence of commercial fleets that have been electrifying for years. Battery swapping, he said, can help large, dense cities like Tokyo avoid challenging EV infrastructure problems and help meet their energy needs.
“You can use the power in stations to go through and actually provide power back to buildings and help in situations” like blackouts, he said.
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Ample previously deployed its battery-swapping stations in Kyoto, along Yamato’s delivery routes, to test out the business case for the tech.
Meanwhile, Ample announced June 12 that it now has battery swapping stations up and running in Madrid, Spain, as part of a partnership with automaker Stellantis and its car-sharing subsidiary Free2move.
The startup said that it has “rolled out the first 40 swappable Fiat 500e vehicles across the city,” with plans to get 100 on the road.
The Spanish government supported the initiative with a nearly 10 million euro grant as part of a program to support the country’s EV transition. Spain aims to have 5.5 million EVs on its roads by 2030.
Giving directions: Similarly, the Tokyo deployment is aimed at helping Japan achieve its goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 46% by 2030.
Europe and Asia are ahead of the US on battery swapping, de Souza said, in part because they have policy clarity about decarbonization and electrification’s role in meeting climate goals.
“They know electrification is important. They understand the limitations of charging infrastructure,” he said. “And this seems to be a way for them to get over those and accelerate adoption. I think in the US right now, people are just waiting for clarity on all of the regulations.”
The landscape around clean tech subsidies and regulations has shifted rapidly in the US since the election in November.
“All of that has just resulted in uncertainty. And when you look at the large organizations, these are plans they put in place for five, seven, 10 years,” de Souza said. “They need longer-term plans, which means they need longer-term clarity…In Europe and Asia, they have that.”