Modular battery-swap company Ample has announced a further $50million capital investment, bringing their value to more than $1 billion.
The US start-up will see investment firm Blackstone Group join their board of directors after leading the private equity investment round, with additional participation from bank Banco Santander.
In August, the company announced $160 million investment in a Series C round of funding led by Moore strategic ventures.
In January, Ample partnered with Uber, initially providing access to battery-swapping technology to Uber EV drivers in California, with plans to expand this across major US cities and on to Europe.
Uber intends to ensure all its drivers have fully electric vehicles in Europe, Canada and the US by 2030, and the rest of the world by 2040.
Ample are also collaborating with Japanese fossil fuel firm Eneos to bring its technology to Japan.
The company operates automated battery-swapping stations in the US, which the company claims can replace an EV battery in under 10 minutes.
Ample uses renewables to recharge the batteries.