Photo: Ample.com
It’s one thing to need a stop to charge up your EV as you’re out and about, and another thing to make it happen fast.
Now Ample, a San Francisco-based EV support developer, has come up with a system capable of swappable electric vehicle batteries in just a few minutes.
And it seems they’ve found some believers in their concept and their system as the company has raised $160 million in a new round of funding.
Ample’s battery for EVs is complemented with an automated process for quickly swapping out depleted batteries for their freshly charged packs, and founders Khaled Hassounah and John de Souza think they’ve solved a problem few people have noticed that they’re sure to have with their EVs.
The system uses computer vision and technology for secure wireless communication with the vehicle. The Ample station can then identify the exact location of each battery module in failure and swap it out. Once the failed battery modules are pulled from the car, the system places them on racks to be charged and ready for the next swap.
The Ample EV system is made out of battery modules designed to accommodate any make, design, or model, and adapts to driving use for commuters, rideshares, last-mile delivery and can even handle autonomous vehicles.
Ample say their compact stations require no construction and require a tiny footprint the size of just a pair of parking spots. The company says these facilities can be located at gas stations, grocery stores - even placed alongside the road. Ample says the ease of installation for their stations means they could have an entire city ready for EVs within weeks.
This Series C round means the startup, now seven years old, has raised a total of brings to $230 million USD. Ample says this funding will be used to expand testing and station installs to New York City with projects to follow in Madrid and Singapore.
"We've been saying for the past few months that this technology is ready for prime time, so now we intend to prove it," Hassounah says.
He adds that long charging times which are common to most available charging stations are causing consumer and fleet users to cool demand for electric vehicles.
According to Hassounah and de Souza, their process can replace a depleted battery with a fully charged battery in under 10 minutes and their automated process is adaptable to "work with any electric vehicle."
And Ample's financial backers ( which include Shell and Repsol, Japan’s Eneos and Thailand’s PTT) seem to agree.
And it seems they’ve found some believers in their concept and their system as the company has raised $160 million in a new round of funding.
Ample’s battery for EVs is complemented with an automated process for quickly swapping out depleted batteries for their freshly charged packs, and founders Khaled Hassounah and John de Souza think they’ve solved a problem few people have noticed that they’re sure to have with their EVs.
The system uses computer vision and technology for secure wireless communication with the vehicle. The Ample station can then identify the exact location of each battery module in failure and swap it out. Once the failed battery modules are pulled from the car, the system places them on racks to be charged and ready for the next swap.
The Ample EV system is made out of battery modules designed to accommodate any make, design, or model, and adapts to driving use for commuters, rideshares, last-mile delivery and can even handle autonomous vehicles.
Ample say their compact stations require no construction and require a tiny footprint the size of just a pair of parking spots. The company says these facilities can be located at gas stations, grocery stores - even placed alongside the road. Ample says the ease of installation for their stations means they could have an entire city ready for EVs within weeks.
This Series C round means the startup, now seven years old, has raised a total of brings to $230 million USD. Ample says this funding will be used to expand testing and station installs to New York City with projects to follow in Madrid and Singapore.
"We've been saying for the past few months that this technology is ready for prime time, so now we intend to prove it," Hassounah says.
He adds that long charging times which are common to most available charging stations are causing consumer and fleet users to cool demand for electric vehicles.
According to Hassounah and de Souza, their process can replace a depleted battery with a fully charged battery in under 10 minutes and their automated process is adaptable to "work with any electric vehicle."
And Ample's financial backers ( which include Shell and Repsol, Japan’s Eneos and Thailand’s PTT) seem to agree.
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