Battery-swapping startup Ample rasies $30M – plans European expansion

San Francisco-based battery-swapping operator Ample has raised another $30M in venture capital from the Blackstone Group and Banco Santander taking total funding to $260M.

Ample has developed technology for retrofitting electric vehicles for battery swapping and is operating a pilot in Bay Area with five swapping stations and additonal pilots upcoming in New York and Tokyo. The company has partnership with Uber through which drivers rent vehicles from Ample, adapted for the service. A battery swap takes less than 10 minutes and require no special hardware according to the company.

With the funding Ample is aiming to expand to Europe with London, Amsterdam, Brussels, Berlin, Paris, Madrid and Lisbon on the horizon.

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