Stellantis and Ample deal for Swappable EV batteries

[chl]

Swap your used battery in 5 minutes for a fully charged one? Sure beats the long wait to charge at L2 or even L3/DC.

Modular swappable batteries for EV's seems like a no-brainer to me. After all, swappable batteries are used in all kinds of other devices.
China has been rolling out this technology in EV's for some time now (Nio).

Sure the EV battery is bigger and heavier than a AAA battery, but that can be overcome with proper engineering and the use of robotics.

There is a US company, Ample (https://ample.com/) that is doing it in California with fleet vehicles, and they have now made a deal with Stellantis for their fleet of EVs. See: https://electrek.co/2023/12/07/stel...grate-battery-swap-capabilities-into-its-evs/

As anyone who owns an EV knows, charging can be a time-consuming hassle at a commercial L2 or DC fast charging station, even to get to 80% charge.
Plus you have the worry of battery degradation as your vehicle battery is repeatedly charged and discharged - it's the most expensive single part of your EV.
Not to mention the issue of obsolescence - as battery tech improves you will get left behind with your old-tech battery.

Why not let a company like Ample take the risks associated with owning the battery?

They can retrofit practically any EV with their modular swappable battery.
Convert gas stations to battery swapping stations.

If the big vehicle manufacturers like @Ford Motor Company got on-board with that idea, they could still make the EV and sell it without the battery for a lot less - "batteries not included" as the saying goes.

Let the battery experts design the batteries and the car folks the EVs.

Stellantis is giving it a go with their deal with Ample. Could be a game changer in the long run.

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[MickeyAO]

So you just bought your EV, and the new battery for swapping. Are you really going to be happy that
1 - You don't own the battery?
2 - the first time you swap, your new battery gets swapped out for one with an unknown SOH and far less range because it is old and used?

 

[LightningShow]

So you just bought your EV, and the new battery for swapping. Are you really going to be happy that
1 - You don't own the battery?
2 - the first time you swap, your new battery gets swapped out for one with an unknown SOH and far less range because it is old and used?

How much cheaper was the vehicle?

 

[MickeyAO]

How much cheaper was the vehicle?

The vehicle would be $20k cheaper, but you would spend $18k to buy the battery.

 

[LightningShow]

The vehicle would be $20k cheaper, but you would spend $18k to buy the battery.

For free changes for the life of the vehicle? Sounds like a good deal.

 

[MickeyAO]

For free changes for the life of the vehicle? Sounds like a good deal.

Not free. You would have to pay a service charge on the battery swap. Probably the same amount you would pay to charge it, and maybe a convivence fee on top. I haven't dived into what BYD charges to do this in China.

 

[LightningShow]

Not free. You would have to pay a service charge on the battery swap. Probably the same amount you would pay to charge it, and maybe a convivence fee on top. I haven't dived into what BYD charges to do this in China.

Right, I was only referring to the actual swapping not the energy. I would think they could be creative with the business model to make it workable. Kind of like a propane tank swap, make some money for the energy returned but people who want a better price can be savvy about when they're swapping the battery.

Honestly, I don't really care about owning the battery as long as they aren't restricting use of the swappable batteries. And, obviously, you would be able to opt out of the program and just buy the battery if that was an issue for you.

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