Israeli Firm Claims EV Charging Breakthrough

Israeli company StoreDot Ltd has manufactured the first battery for electric vehicles which can be charged in just five minutes, a step towards making refuelling as fast as cars at a gas station.

The lithium-ion samples were produced by StoreDot’s strategic partner in China, Eve Energy Company, and have been used as a demonstration in a two-wheeled scooter. StoreDot said that rapid charging batteries could overcome range and charging anxiety, a critical barrier to mainstream EV adoption.

However, batteries which charge this quickly may not be achievable at scale for years with existing plug-in infrastructure. Degradation relating to use of fast-charging also is an under-appreciated issue.

StoreDot is aiming for a 2025 mass roll-out if it can find the right strategic partners, Chief Executive Officer Doron Myersdorf said in an interview. Now that chemistry has proved extreme fast charging can be done, the battle becomes the infrastructure, he added.

“It’s not only a laboratory experiment, but it’s also a mass production product which is scalable,” Mr Myersdorf said. “We’ve really focused on where the holy grail is — five-minute charging of electric vehicles.”

Mr Myersdorf said the company has thousands of samples to share with potential partners like tier 1 battery-makers — ones which that can supply EVs.

“This is a huge positive to the industry, making rapid charging on the go more convenient and reducing a huge barrier to adoption,” said David Watson, CEO of EV-charging company Ohme Technologies UK Ltd.

“But these benefits will take a while to come on stream.”

StoreDot was picked by BloombergNEF as one of its top 1tencompanies of 2020 leading the low-carbon transition. BP Plc invested US$20 million in the company in 2018 and raised $60 million from companies including Daimler AG in 2017.

Source: Rigzone