A French startup, EP Tender, came up with a solution to the problem of EV range anxiety. It’s a mobile charging trailer that keeps your on-board battery topped-up on the go. It latches onto the back of a car and is towed along for the ride enabling long travels without having to stop frequently to charge!
The creator explained how he came up with the idea in an interview:
I first came up with the idea of a trailer with extra capacity for the electric car like our current EP Tender when I wanted to buy an electric car myself. That was back in 2012. I couldn’t find a suitable electric car at that time. The range was not great enough for the few times a year when I wanted to travel much further. I thought it was a pity that there wasn’t a modular system around that would supplement the electric car’s battery so that I could occasionally travel longer distances with it.
The company intends to rent out EP Tenders rather than sell them. The scheme they are planning would allow you to rent the battery trailer from stations strategically placed along major travel routes. That way, you hire one only when you need to boost your car range. The process is simple. You drive your car to a station, and the EP Tender autonomously clips itself to your vehicle, and you drive off. The same applies to swapping drained battery trailers out for a fresh, full-power one. The system has great potential to help with the mass adoption of EVs.
The company also plans to offer EP Tenders as a roadside rescue service if your EV runs out of battery, but you’re far away from a charging station.
By 2025, EP Tender aims to have its trailer available for hire in major European countries, including Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland. It also hopes to have them in America, China, and India. However, there is one obstacle it needs to overcome still, and that’s getting car manufacturers to apply for approval for the use of the EP Tender system with their EVs. Furthermore, technology has to be fitted to their cars. Once that’s settled, drivers of EVs won’t have to worry about their batteries’ energy reserves anymore!
