Range anxiety solved? Stellantis to open first EV battery-swap station in 2024

Stellantis has announced it will open its first battery swap station in Europe in 2024 that will
be capable of swapping out and fitting a fully charged battery in less than five minutes.

Developed in partnership with San Francisco-based Ample, the fist battery swap station will
be opened in Madrid, Spain, as part of a trial involving 100 Fiat 500e EVs owned by the
carshare scheme Free2Move.

If proven successful, the new battery swap tech will be rolled out for the entire
Stellantis stable, including the likes of Alfa Romeo, Citroen, Peugeot, Jeep and Maserati.

It’s not been disclosed how the first 100 Fiat 500es have been modified for the trial but it’s
thought they will feature extensive changes underneath the skin.

Once up in running, Stellantis claims any of its EVs can drive up to one of its battery swap
stations where the car will automatically be recognised on its approach. The drive will then authorise the battery swap using an app.

Until now, Chinese car-maker NIO has led the automotive world for battery swaps with its
2200 of its Power Swap Stations already in operation, with a further five already to be rolled
out in Europe.

Earlier this year NIO said it carried out an incredible 906,056 battery swaps over just 17 days
setting a new record for Chinese luxury brand.

Currently NIO says its fully automatic battery swap takes an industry-leading three minutes,
although the car-maker is said to already working on new methods to streamline this even
further.

Stellantis has not revealed what cities or regions it will roll out its battery swap stations to
next but says thanks to their simple construction they can be built and become fully
operational in as little as three days, hinting at a rapid expansion should the trial prove a
success.

Commenting on the new battery swap service head of Ample Khaled Hassounah 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.”