That’s because, rather than charging the battery that’s in the car, Ample uses a modular battery-swapping system. The first of its kind in the world, this system removes the car’s depleted batteries with fully charged battery modules. These modules can be adapted to fit any car, rather than the car having to be built to fit the batteries. The bigger the car, the more modules it will require. The modules removed from the car are stored in the station to recharge at their own pace before being placed into another car.
The station itself is operated autonomously — the drivers simply pull in, pay on an app on their smartphone and sit in their car while the system does all the work. The station itself is relatively inexpensive and easy to set up, and whenever possible it uses renewable power sources like wind and solar to operate and to charge the batteries. Uber’s EV fleet in San Francisco is currently using Ample’s stations to charge its vehicles, and is reportedly working on setting up stations in other California cities as well.
