How the industry might challenge charging anxiety

Could battery swapping revolutionise the EV experience?

As the automotive world accelerates toward electrification, one persistent barrier continues to shadow electric vehicle (EV) adoption: charging anxiety.

For many prospective EV drivers, the concern over long wait times at charging stations or running out of power mid-journey remains a psychological and logistical hurdle. But innovative solutions are emerging, and none more promising than battery swapping.

Stellantis, FIAT, and Ample have teamed up to pilot a pioneering initiative in Madrid that could reshape how we think about EV charging.

FIAT’s five-minute fix: a new paradigm

In collaboration with US battery tech firm Ample and Stellantis’ mobility service Free2move, FIAT is piloting a battery swapping program for its 500e fleet in Madrid. This initiative offers a recharge solution that takes less than five minutes, an experience on par with conventional refuelling, and leagues ahead of traditional EV charging, which can take anywhere from 30 minutes to several hours depending on the charger type.

The project’s initial phase includes 40 Fiat 500e vehicles retrofitted to accept Ample’s modular, swappable battery packs. By mid-2025, the fleet is expected to grow to 100 units, forming a test bed for both the technology and consumer behaviour. The swapping stations that are designed for quick, automated exchanges controlled via mobile app offer a practical, scalable solution to one of the most criticised limitations of EVs.

The broader industry challenge: charging infrastructure

Traditional EV charging infrastructure has often lagged behind market growth. While the number of EVs on the road is climbing, many cities struggle to keep pace with sufficient fast-charging options. This leads to congestion at stations, longer queues, and inconsistent charging speeds, all feeding into consumer scepticism.

A recent Fleet and Mobility Barometer from the Arval Mobility Observatory, based on interviews with more than 8,000 corporate fleet managers, underscores this concern. The study highlights that a lack of charging points is the major constraint holding back the use of electric vehicles, making clear that infrastructure limitations remain a top industry pain point.

Battery swapping offers a direct solution. It decouples energy replenishment from power delivery infrastructure by replacing it with a modular service model. In doing so, it achieves dramatically reduced wait times, increased vehicle uptime for fleets and car-sharing services, and decreased dependency on high-voltage grid upgrades.

Why Madrid, and why now?

Madrid is an ideal launchpad for this initiative. Spain aims to have 5.5 million EVs on the road by 2030, and Madrid itself has committed to a 65% reduction in carbon emissions over the same period. The city’s strong EV adoption, combined with its dense urban environment, makes it a fitting test case for both technology validation and user engagement.

By piloting battery swapping with a controlled fleet, FIAT and Stellantis can analyse real-world performance, optimise operations, and develop insights critical for broader rollout, including private ownership models.

Overcoming scepticism: the scalability factor

Battery swapping is not a new idea, but past efforts have often faltered due to high infrastructure costs and lack of standardisation. However, Ample’s technology sidesteps these issues with a modular, platform-agnostic approach. Its batteries are drop-in replacements for standard EV packs, enabling compatibility across multiple vehicle types with minimal redesign. Vehicles automatically connect to the system at a station, where a robotic process handles the swap.

This level of standardisation and automation is key to scalability. If broadly adopted, it could become as routine as oil changes once were, especially for urban drivers, commercial fleets, and ride-share operators who prioritise uptime.

“Battery swapping is not a new idea; indeed, those of us old enough to remember electric ‘milk floats’ will recall they used this technology. Other brands (Nio) have tried to develop the technology unsuccessfully and in the early days of EV adoption, some brands (notably Renault) tried to separate the sale of the car from the battery, but again this tech failed to take off.”

Betteley continues, “I’ve discussed this initiative with Charlie Cook, the CEO and founder of Rightcharge, and we both feel that in order to take off, this tech would require mass adoption with swapping points universally available. Considering the issues with the roll out of traditional chargers, then this seems very unlikely in the short to medium term. Charging at home (where that is available) still seems like the most cost effective and convenient way to drive an EV.”

That said, Betteley does see niche potential: “In my opinion, I feel that there are more opportunities for this tech in the LCV and HGV markets where swapping (and charging stations) can be located at strategically located depots, owned and controlled by the logistics company involved.”

Toward a future of effortless electrification

Charging anxiety doesn’t just stem from the fear of running out of energy; it reflects a lack of seamlessness in the current EV experience. Through this initiative, Stellantis and FIAT are taking a critical step toward removing that friction. By demonstrating that charging can be fast, automatic, and infrastructure-light, they challenge the conventional narrative that EVs require compromise.

The Madrid pilot may be just one city, one model, and one use case, but it carries implications far beyond. If battery swapping can succeed at scale, it may become the missing link in mainstream EV adoption – a technical and psychological bridge between today’s reality and an electrified tomorrow.

As automakers, tech firms, and policymakers race to redefine electrified transportation, it’s clear that solving charging anxiety will be essential. Through bold experiments like the FIAT-Ample battery swapping pilot, the industry is beginning to answer one of the EV era’s most pressing questions: How do we make electrification not just possible, but preferable? Battery swapping may well be a key part of that answer.