Startup Ample is on a mission to convert commercial fleets into believers in the power of electric vehicle battery swapping technology.
The company has spent the last three years piloting its electric vehicle battery swapping technology in San Francisco, Madrid, and Japan. Now, Ample is preparing to turn some of those pilot customers into commercial contracts in 2025.
And to help Ample along is a fresh $25 million in funding from new investor Mitsubishi Corporation.
The raise seems modest in comparison to Ample’s previous investment. In 2021, the year of free-flowing cash, Ample managed to raise a total of $190 million over two separate rounds. Ample co-founder and president John de Souza told TechCrunch this raise is the first close of what will hopefully be a $75 million round.
Ample provides commercial fleets with swappable battery packs and automated battery swapping stations. De Souza says the fresh funds will help the startup scale from tens of swapping stations and a few hundred Ample-equipped vehicles on public roads today to hundreds of stations and thousands of vehicles in the next year.
Perhaps of equal importance to the cash is Ample’s partnership with Mitsubishi Corp. — not to be confused with Mitsubishi Motors. Mitsubishi Corp. has ownership stakes in commercial fleets interested in electrification, including Lawson, a popular Japanese convenience store. The conglomerate also has a clean energy division that can help Ample access renewable energy for its swapping stations, said de Souza.
Ample’s first pilot-turned-customer will be Free2Move, a carsharing service owned by automaker Stellantis. Free2Move operates all-electric Fiat 500es in Madrid that are equipped with Ample’s battery swapping technology. De Souza anticipates expanding Ample’s presence in Madrid into ride-sharing and last-mile delivery markets soon. That could look similar to Ample’s previous partnership with Drive Sally provided battery swappable Kia Niros to Uber drivers in San Francisco.
Ample will announce its commercial customers in Japan in the coming weeks, which the company says will include customers from its pilot in Kyoto. Earlie …