Fiat teams up with U.S. battery-swap specialist Ample to potentially roll out the technology to European customers for its future battery-electric vehicles.
The Stellantis brand is supplying a fleet of Fiat 500e urban vehicles to be fitted with Ample’s swappable battery packs for use by the car-sharing provider Free2move in trials on the streets of the Spanish capital of Madrid.
The Fiat 500e’s flexible platform, already being converted to hybrid powertrains, is seen as the perfect test mule for battery-swap technology that allows the user to obtain a fully charged new battery pack within five minutes, matching the experience of refueling an internal-combustion-engine vehicle.
Stellantis says in a company release that this solution has the potential to offer a flexible and scalable alternative to traditional charging, maximizing fleet availability, reducing operational costs and minimizing reliance on the charging infrastructure.
After an initial rollout of 40 vehicles and successful homologation, the Fiat 500e fleet is expected to expand to 100 units by mid-2025.
Fiat CEO Olivier Francois says Ample’s technology will have a major impact on the car-share user experience by dramatically reducing range anxiety, often the reason car-share and rental customers avoid hiring BEVs.
“We are dedicated to thoroughly testing and analyzing this concept in real-world conditions and aiming to expand it to private customers soon,” Francois adds.
