After a big presentation of the Tesla Battery Swap in 2013, Elon Musk chose to shelve the 90 seconds process as being too expensive to implement. However, many EV startups do not share the conviction of the American visionary and already have some working prototypes. In this video, we will show you those electric cars that support lightning-fast swaps of the energy modules, plus will demonstrate universal stations with the cutting edge battery exchange solutions.

More electric car content in our playlist:    • Best electric vehicles and hybrid cars  

This video presentation features such models:

ACM City One

The German startup Adaptive City Mobility targets the fleet and shared mobility sectors with their first electric vehicle. The City One is a rather affordable compact car that weighs just 2100 pounds and accommodates 5 people.

Silence S04

The 4th project by the Spanish startup Silence differentiates itself from all of the previous builds by being a 4-wheeler. Classified as a quadricycle, it has compact dimensions, but still accommodates 2 people, while leaving almost 11 cubic feet of space for their luggage.

Ample

If you already own an electric vehicle and are interested in battery swapping technology as a way to decrease charging times, time to check out this project by Ample. Founded in 2014, the San Francisco startup already has a couple of working swapping stations across California, but now, it is promising to bring easy, time effective and accessible battery swapping to more EV owners.

Nio Power Swap 2.0

China’s most innovative EV manufacturer has finally begun the European takeover starting with Norway. For now, the ES8 7-seater SUV will be the sole buying option, but by 2023, Nio promises to expand to 5 more EU countries and also bring the flagship electric sedan ET7.

Fiat Centoventi

The Chentoventi concept car from the Italian manufacturer predicts the future of big cities, with vast zero-emission zones and thousands of A-segment e-cars on the roads. The hatchback gets a chunky Panda-inspired exterior, offers extensive customization options, and debuts Fiat’s modular battery system that one day might actually make it to production.

Squad Mobility

The Netherlands-based start-up has rolled out its very first EV warrior, intended to fight for sustainable urban mobility. With the starting price of under 6 thousand euros, the 2-person Squad Mobility EV is indeed affordable, while its standard 250-watt solar panel on the roof makes the model less dependent on the charging infrastructure, refueling nearly 12 miles of range every day.
XEV Global Yoyo

After 3 years in development, the mini city car by the Italian XEV Global is ready for production. The model is built on a steel frame, while most of its body and interior parts are manufactured via 3D printing. The 2-seater rides on 14 or 15inch wheels, has modern LED headlights, and is homologated under EU’s WVTA standards. The list of cabin equipment includes air conditioning, 10inch infotainment and even a panoramic roof.

Lotus ER-9 Le Mans

Have no doubts, the future of endurance racing is electric. Lotus envisions the vehicle suitable to compete at the 2030 season of 24 Hours of Le mans in the form of the E-R9 racer.

Do you believe in the battery swapping technology or should we listen to Elon and focus on the fast charging instead? We would be glad to hear your thoughts.