Stellantis’s latest partnership is with battery swap company Ample

Stellantis is partnering with Ample to use battery swapping technology in its electric vehicles. Rather than waiting for the car’s battery to recharge, the Ample machines (pictured) switch out the battery for a fully charged one within a few minutes – just like your TV remote.

Stellantis is initially rolling the swap tech out on the brand’s Free2Move car sharing service. Starting in Madrid, 100 Fiat 500es will be equipped to switch the battery, instead of charging it.

If this initial pilot succeeds it could potentially bring more flexibility for drivers, particularly those in fleets. It's not clear, however, how quickly the infrastructure needed to make it a reality would be integrated, or the cost to make that happen.

Battery swapping isn’t a new approach, either. If you cast your mind back, BetterPlace was a 2007 venture-backed start-up that failed in 2013. Since then, Chinese marque Nio has made more significant in-roads with battery swapping. But it’s a method that’s not very prolific here in Europe. Out of its 2,200 swap stations globally, Nio has only five of them in Europe (albeit there are plans to have more).

Khaled Hassounah, boss of Ample, said: “The combination of offering compelling electric vehicles that can also receive a full charge in less than five minutes will help remove the remaining impediments to electric vehicle adoption. We look forward to working with Stellantis to deploy our joint solution across communities around the world.”

Would you swap or would you prefer to keep the battery you have?