Israeli company StoreDot has developed lithium-ion batteries capable of fully charging in five minutes.
The company, working alongside Chinese EVE Energy, has showed the potential of its “extreme fast-charging” battery in phones, drones and scooters. However, the technology is ready to take the next step with 1,000 batteries that have been produced to showcase the technology to carmakers and other companies.
StoreDot, which has raised over $130 million, has received investment from Daimler, BP, Samsung and TDK.
The batteries, which can be fully charged in five minutes, would require much higher-powered chargers than the ones used today. By using the available charging infrastructure, StoreDot is aiming by 2025 to deliver batteries capable of an incredible 100 miles of charge in a mere five minutes.
The new technology could be a game-changer for the all-electric market, according to Doron Myersdorf, CEO of StoreDot.
“The number one barrier to the adoption of electric vehicles is no longer cost, it is range anxiety,” he said. “A five-minute charging lithium-ion battery was considered to be impossible. But we are not releasing a lab prototype, we are releasing engineering samples from a mass production line. This demonstrates it is feasible and it’s commercially ready.”
The difference between StoreDot’s technology and other Lithium-ion batteries is that the graphite is replaced with semiconductor nanoparticles into which ions can pass more quickly and easily. These nanoparticles are currently based on germanium, which is water soluble and easier to handle in manufacturing. However, the company expects to use silicon, which is much cheaper, for the prototypes later this year.
Current Li-ion batteries use graphite as one electrode, into which the lithium ions are pushed to store charge. But when these are rapidly charged, the ions get congested and can turn into metal and short circuit the battery.
The new technology however would mean that the entire charging infrastructure will need to be updated in order to support the super-fast charging capabilities of these lithium-ion batteries, according to Myersdorf.
“BP has 18,200 forecourts and they understand that 10 years from now all these stations will be obsolete, if they don’t repurpose them for charging,” he said. “Batteries are the new oil.”
This is only the latest company that is working on a new type of battery for EVs. We reported that, QuantumScape claims to have developed a production-ready solid-state battery with cells that are made of solid conductive material and that it will be ready in 2024. The company, which is backed by Volkswagen and Bill Gates, said that the batteries will retain more than 80% of their capacity after 800 charging cycles and they’re non-combustible.
Also, Tesla is working on a new type of batteries with Panasonic. We reported that the Japanese company is expected to invest millions into a new battery design, which is expected to deliver a massive 16% increase in range and reduce the overall battery cost per kWh by an impressive 14%.
Slovakian company InoBat has also revealed a new technology that will allow it to reduce the dependence on cobalt, in addition to also boosting energy density to a goal of 330Wh/kg and 1,000Wh/I by the end of 2023.
The EV battery world is expected to go through a quick and rapid change in the next few years thanks to the advent of this new technology.
