EV Battery Replacement Startup Ampal has aligned itself with two partnerships this month that will help it grow further in Japan and New York City after a few years working on the technology. Founded in 2014 and out of stealth in March, the startup said on Tuesday that it had partnered with Japanese petroleum and energy company Enios to jointly deploy and operate petroleum and swapping infrastructure in Japan. Over the next year, the two companies will pilot MPLI’s fully automated swap technology, focusing on ride-hailing, taxi, municipal, rental and last mile delivery companies. Ample and Enios will also evaluate how the switching stations can use other texts such as power backup sources for the power grid.
The partnership is still in its first days and some details have been revealed; For example, did not share when the pilot program would start or where it would initially launch in Japan. However, with this brief description, Enios’s interest indicates that the battery swap – at least in favor of Ampel – is gaining some confidence. The announcement comes just days after Enios launched a separate partnership with Sally, a non-governmental organization to provide New York City-based EV rental riding, taxis and last mile. Ample founder and CEO Khaled Hasunah said Ample and Sally will roll out five to ten stations in NYC in the fourth quarter of this year, with plans to expand to other markets in 2021, according to Ample founder and CEO Khaled Hasunah.
Ample’s partnership with Sammy will also expand to San Francisco in the next few months. Depending on the cost of using both services, it could be a lucrative deal for ride-hauling drivers in California, where at least the state simply ordered that by 2030, Uber and lift drivers would have to stay in 90% of EVs. “The goal is to make stations as ubiquitous as gas stations,” Hasnah told TechCrunch. Ample came out of a partnership this March with five operation stations in the Bay Area and a partnership with Uber to hire drivers to drive cars from the re-launched Ample with stealth battery technology.
