Concerns about range and lengthy charging are (alongside high prices) among the most common reasons why people reject electromobility. In addition to fast chargers, stations capable of replacing an empty electric car battery with a fully charged one in a few minutes can also help solve this problem.
Today, several companies and car manufacturers are developing special stations that can handle the entire process automatically within a few minutes. The American company Ample, based in San Francisco, which has recently celebrated a number of successes, is one in this industry.
The company managed to acquire strong partners such as Shell, Mitsubishi or the automotive concern Stellantis. Thanks to it, she was also able to start a trial operation in Madrid, Spain, where she offered battery replacements for dozens of Fiat 500e cars as part of shared mobility.
Despite all the success, Ample recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in a US Texas court. Although the company has managed to raise around $330 million in investment over its lifetime, it has recently been facing liquidity problems, which it attributes mainly to the challenging investment environment in renewable energy, according to the website Electrive.
The company’s future now depends on the insolvency process, where Article 11 bankruptcy focuses primarily on restructuring the company and protecting it from legal action by creditors until the reorganization is completed.
At the same time, the technology of replacing batteries in electric cars has not been a bed of roses for a long time. Stations require more space than chargers, are only designed for compatible cars and are also more expensive. Competition is also represented by increasingly powerful chargers and faster recharging of modern electric cars.
