Ample develops above-ground battery swapping stations and modular battery packs that can be exchanged in about 10 minutes, enabling a gas-station-like refueling experience for electric vehicles. Customers pay for power on a subscription basis, and Ample says the service can already be roughly 20% cheaper than gasoline. The company currently operates 12 swapping stations in the San Francisco Bay Area, largely serving Uber rideshare vehicles. Ample is integrated with seven automakers (unnamed in the article) and says OEM announcements may be forthcoming. Expansion plans cited by the CEO include domestic launches in Los Angeles and New York City (and possible deployments in Houston, Chicago, and Miami) as well as international plans in Madrid and Kyoto. The company is investing in manufacturing capacity at its Brisbane, Calif. module plant to meet growing demand. Ample develops modular battery packs and automated swapping stations that allow EVs to replace depleted batteries instead of waiting to charge. The company focuses on fleet customers—early partnerships with Uber and EV rental firm Sally target commercial fleets in multiple U.S. cities and planned expansion to Europe. Ample says swapping speeds reduce downtime for fleets and can also help individual consumers who lack reliable overnight charging. The startup is San Francisco-based and had a PitchBook valuation of about $890 million in August. It has raised about $260 million to date and will use the new funding to scale production, deployment and support functions as it expands geographically. Ample plans to expand into Europe next year and aims to deploy tens of thousands of vehicles in the near future. Ample operates a modular battery-swapping service that lets cars equipped with removable battery packs drive into automated pods to swap depleted batteries for fully charged ones. Swapped batteries are recharged in the pod network and returned to other vehicles, which Ample says reduces battery waste and vehicle weight. The company is currently focused on fleets, operating five swapping stations in the Bay Area for participating Uber drivers and partnering with Sally for rentals and last-mile deliveries in New York City. Ample says it has validated its approach with 10 different car models and is working with five OEMs to ease vehicle integration. The startup sees consumer use cases (for example, apartment dwellers without charging access) and reports strong interest from governments and fleets as it plans to scale into new cities. Financially, Ample has just raised a $160 million Series C and says its total funding now stands at $230 million. Ample is a San Francisco-based startup co-founded by Khaled Hassounah and John de Souza that builds an energy-delivery platform for electric vehicles. The company uses autonomous robotics and smart-battery technology to deliver a full charge to any electric car in minutes as an alternative to traditional charging. Ample describes its platform as economical, rapidly deployable, and widely accessible to enable EV ownership regardless of driving needs, economic means, or geographic location. The company says it intends to deploy its technology in multiple locations over the coming months. Ample aims to support light- and medium-duty EV sectors and to integrate solutions with existing retail fueling and power networks. The article does not disclose operating metrics or revenues but notes the recent financing to support deployments.

Total raised

$236M

Funding rounds

4

Latest round

Grant

Latest activity

Feb 2023