US hot-swappable battery start-up Ample has raised $160 million in a Series C funding round that includes large interests in Asia, Kallanish reports. 

The funding round was led by Moore Strategic Ventures and featured investments from Shell Ventures, ENEOS, Momentum Venture Capital and PTT. 

Momentum is the public transportation operator for Singapore, and PTT is Thailand’s state-owned oil and gas company. 

Ample now has a total of $230m on-hand, and that will be used to “...scale our modular battery swapping technology across the US and to more corners of the globe.”

Ample’s model sidesteps charging issues with service stations that automatically swaps the company’s “lego-like” batteries regardless of vehicle make or model. Ample also claims that its start-up costs and site requirements are tiny - about equivalent to two parking spaces. 

“When we started Ample seven years ago to create a faster, lower-cost modular battery swap network, our mission was to create an infrastructure solution that can scale fast, support any electric vehicle and any driver profile, while presenting a clear path to transitioning to renewable energy sources,” the company says. “We wanted to make it as easy as possible for current gas drivers to move to electric vehicles with no compromises. So far, we’ve seen great excitement and demand for our technology from both fleet managers and car manufacturers.”