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Stellantis is trialling battery-swapping know-how with the Fiat 500e in a bid to supply full EV recharging in simply 5 minutes.
If the trial is profitable, this might eradicate one of many largest boundaries to EV possession: charging time.
Presently happening in Madrid, the trial entails a small fleet of 40 500es which were tailored to make use of a pack (of unspecified measurement) from battery-swapping agency Ample.
The fleet is operated by Stellantis-owned car-sharing agency Free2Move and being pushed by customers within the metropolis.
The vehicles are at the moment serviced by a single battery-swapping station, however extra are deliberate to be created within the metropolis as a part of the trial, which has been supported by a €9.8 million (£8.2m) grant from the Spanish authorities.
What’s extra, Stellantis plans to develop the fleet to 100 vehicles within the coming months.
If the trial is profitable, the know-how shall be provided to personal prospects, promised Fiat CEO Olivier François.
“We’re devoted to completely testing and analysing this idea in real-world circumstances and aiming to develop it to personal prospects quickly,” he mentioned.
“That’s the reason we consider deeply on this undertaking and have chosen our iconic Fiat 500 to spearhead the initiative.
“It should present invaluable insights for each our model and the group as we form the way forward for mobility.”
It is unclear if the trial shall be expanded to different Stellantis EVs, on condition that the 500e is predicated on a bespoke platform and never the e-CMP EV platform utilized by Citroën, Peugeot, Vauxhall et al.