Range anxiety—the fear of running out of juice in a battery-electric vehicle with nowhere to charge quickly—is a big concern for drivers. Auto makers are looking for ways to assuage that fear in hopes it will lead to more EV sales.
Chrysler parent
Stellantis
just announced a charging partnership, a similar model to one pioneered by
NIO
in China.
Thursday, Stellantis announced an agreement with EV charging technology company Ample to “establish a partnership in electric vehicle battery charging technology capable of delivering
a fully charged electric vehicle battery in less than five minutes.”
That’s fast. How the pair will accomplish that is by using Ample’s technology to swap out an empty battery and replace it with a fully charged battery.
It makes the time and process to refuel an EV, which ranges anywhere from 15 to 45 minutes, more similar to refilling a gas tank.
Battery swapping technology is most prominently used by EV company NIO. In China, NIO has more than 2,200 swap stations in operation that have changed batteries out some 32 million times.
There are other ways to combat range anxiety, too. Some of Chinese EV maker Li Auto’s vehicles include a so-called range extender, a gasoline-powered generator that can recharge batteries on the fly.
Stellantis is also using that technology in the electric version of its Dodge Ram truck.
“The partnership with Ample is another example of how Stellantis is exploring all avenues that enable freedom of mobility for our electric vehicle customers,” Ricardo Stamatti, Stellantis senior vice president of charging and energy, said in a news release, adding the first car in the battery-swapping program will be an electric Fiat 500.
Tesla has tackled this anxiety in another way. It hasn’t developed partnerships for battery swapping or created range extenders. Instead, Tesla has built the largest network of fast-charging stations in the U.S., capable of providing 50 or 100 miles of range in a few minutes.
Stellantis has had some success selling electric cars, selling about 169,000 battery EV units in the first half of 2023, up 24% year over year. EV sales accounted for about 5% of total sales at the auto maker. However, Stellantis, a global company, has seen a wider share of those sales in Europe. EVs accounted for roughly 10% of total sales in the continent. Stellantis doesn’t sell a fully electric car in the U.S. yet.
For comparison, about 3% of General Motors’ total sales in the U.S. have been battery EVs. GM doesn’t have a European business, where EVs are more popular.
GM has plans to address battery range anxiety as well. It’s focusing on giving drivers more range per charge. Both the Cadillac LYRIQ and Escalade have 300-plus mile ranges.
Cadillac Vice President John Roth told Barron’s recently that the 300-mile threshold is where U.S. car buyers feel better about the range of an EV.
Write to Al Root at [email protected]
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