5-minutes charge battery developed by Israel’s StoreDot

Tel Aviv: Israeli company StoreDot announced on Tuesday that it managed to develop the world’s first car battery that can be fully charged in just five minutes as a landmark achievement in the electric vehicle industry.

However, this invention would take time to become commercially viable as ultra-fast charge would require much larger power chargers than is currently available.

Electric cars, which constitute a significant part of global efforts to combat the climate crisis, have faced the challenge of hours to fully charge the battery, giving rise to “range anxiety” – the battery’s mid-journey and the driver’s fear of running out got stuck at a charging station.

But now, provided that the charging stations undergo a significant upgrade that can take years, charging an electric car can be as quick as stopping to refuel a gas-powered vehicle.

In June last year, the startup said it achieved a “world-first” when it teamed up with BP Ventures, the venture arm of British multinational oil and gas firm BP PLC, to complete a two-wheel electric vehicle in just five minutes Charge, which has invested $ 20 million in the startup.

It has also demonstrated ultra-fast charging time for phones, drones, and scooters.

StoreDot has raised $ 130 million to date from investors, including BP Ventures; Samsung Venture Investment, Daimler AG, manufacturer of Mercedes-Benz cars; And electrical and electronics manufacturer TDK Corporation.

According to The Guardian, some 1,000 batteries developed by StoreDot have already been manufactured in China by the German firm Eve Systems and are meant to showcase the technology to carmakers and other companies.

“We are proud to provide these samples, but today’s milestone is just the beginning,” StoreDot CEO Doran Myersdorff said in a statement. “We are on the verge of achieving a revolution in the electric vehicle charging experience that will remove a significant barrier to mass adoption of electric vehicles.”

“Lithium-ion batteries were considered impossible to charge for five minutes,” Myersdorff said in an interview with The Guardian. “But we are not releasing a laboratory prototype; we are releasing engineering samples from a large-scale production line. It shows that it is possible and that it is commercially ready. ”

“The bottleneck for extra-fast charging is no longer batteries,” he said, adding that StoreDot is working with BP on upgrading the charging stations and grids that supply them.

Prof. Chao-Yang Wang of the Center for Battery and Energy Storage Technology at Pennsylvania State University in the US told The Guardian, “I think such a fast-charging battery will be available on the mass market in three years.” They will not be more expensive; In fact, they allow automakers to reduce onboard batteries, eliminating range concerns, dramatically reducing vehicle costs. ”

Founded in 2012, the Herzliya-based StoreDot has developed lithium ion-based battery technology, using nanometers and organic and inorganic compounds, enabling ultra-fast charging for various markets.