One of Ample's white battery-swapping stations sits in a warehouse with a small black car parked inside.
San Francisco-based Ample is working on battery-swapping stations that drop refueling times to just five minutes.
  • Long charging times and a lack of public chargers are keeping people from buying electric cars. 
  • Some startups are convinced that EV charging needs a fundamental overhaul. 
  • Battery swapping and wireless EV charging could someday make owning an EV way more convenient. 

The thought of charging is scaring away potential electric car buyers. If everybody is expected to shun dirty fuels sooner rather than later, that needs to change.