Israel’s StoreDot demos electric vehicle battery that can recharge in 10 minutes
Extreme fast-charging battery tech developer displays capabilities at annual EcoMotion conference in Tel Aviv
Ricky Ben-David is a Times of Israel editor and reporter
StoreDot, an Israeli developer of extreme fast-charging (XFC) battery technology for electric vehicles, held a live public demonstration of its capabilities on Wednesday, charging a full-scale electric vehicle battery cell in just 10 minutes.
StoreDot hopes to deliver charging technology that can power EVs for 100 miles in a charge of five minutes by 2024, reducing to three minutes by 2028 and two minutes by 2032.
The demonstration featured a 300×100 mm pouch cell produced by StoreDot’s Chinese partner, EVE Energy, which was charged under a 10-minute time limit, exceeding the 0% to 80% capacity target set for the demo, the company said. The cell maintained a charge rate capable of adding 100 miles of range every 5 minutes of charging, it said.
StoreDot, founded in 2012, is working with major partners and investors such as Volvo; BP Ventures, the venture arm of the British multinational oil and gas firm BP plc; Daimler AG, the maker of the Mercedes Benz cars; and South Korea’s Samsung Ventures to solve some of the biggest barriers to mass EV adoption, namely range anxiety — a concern among drivers that the battery will run out of power before they can get to their destination — and charging time.
The company has raised some $190 million in funding, according to Start-Up Nation Central’s finder database.
For a decade, StoreDot has been developing lithium ion-based battery technologies, using nanomaterials and organic and inorganic compounds, that enable ultra-fast charging for the mobile and industrial markets. The company says the process redefines the chemistry of conventional lithium-ion batteries, taking electric vehicle charging times from hours to minutes. This breakthrough is achieved primarily by replacing graphite in the cell’s anode with metalloid nanoparticles, such as silicon, to overcome major issues in safety, cycle life and cell swelling during the charging process.
The battery tech has been in development for three years and is backed by 12 patents in cell design, software and a self-repairing system that allows batteries to regenerate while in use.
In 2019, StoreDot used its XFC technology to demonstrate full live charge of a two-wheeled electric vehicle in five minutes. A year later, it demonstrated a five-minute charge of a commercial drone. The company also previously demonstrated ultra-fast charging times for phones and scooters.
Myersdorf said in a statement Wednesday that “successfully proving StoreDot’s extreme fast-charging battery technology in front of a live audience demonstrates the complete confidence we have in our roadmap to deliver a global step-change in electric mobility.”
The company’s technology, he added, “continues to undergo testing by leading automotive manufacturers in grueling conditions, ensuring no stone is left unturned in the strategic pursuit of delivering excellence to our customers and consigning EV range anxiety to the history books.”
Smart mobility in Tel Aviv
StoreDot’s demonstration was held Wednesday at the EcoMotion conference in Tel Aviv, an annual summit that gathers entrepreneurs, investors, startups, companies, global corporations, and government agencies from Israel and worldwide for an event focused on smart mobility and automotive and transportation technologies.
The event drew some 3,000 participants from 40 countries, according to organizers, and showcased the technologies of over 100 Israeli startups and companies in the automotive space including REE, a developer of a flat and modular chassis for electric vehicles; Innoviz Technologies, a maker of sensors for self-driving cars; and Upstream Security, which offers cloud-based cybersecurity and big data analytics for connected and autonomous vehicles.
Guest speakers included Transportation Minister Merav Michaeli and Economy and Industry Minister Orna Barbivai, as well as executives from major car companies like Ford, Hyundai, and Renault Group.
Israel doesn’t have an auto manufacturing industry to speak of – save the brief appearance of Sussita models in the 1960s — but it has a strong automotive tech presence in subsectors like cybersecurity, autonomous driving systems, software-as-a-service, mobility services, and electrification and energy.
Among the other speakers at the EcoMotion event was Trevor Pawl, chief mobility officer for the state of Michigan, which recently signed a deal with Israeli company Electreon to test the company’s wireless “smart road” tech that charges electric cars while in motion.
ElectReon is set to build an electric road system (ERS) on a public road in Detroit, the country’s longstanding automotive capital, to demonstrate its technology.
Perhaps most currently well known among Israeli automotive tech companies currently is Mobileye, Intel’s Jerusalem-based autonomous driving subsidiary which the chip giant bought in 2017 for over $15 billion.
Mobileye is preparing to launch robotaxi services in Israel and Germany later this year, and is running autonomous driving pilots in Munich, Detroit, New York City, Tokyo and most recently Paris. The company has bet on commercial robotaxi services, as well as self-driving shuttles for public transportation across Europe and delivery vehicles in the US, as a first introduction of autonomous cars on the roads.
Mobileye, Electreon, and others are part of more than 600 startups and companies that make up the mobility community set up by EcoMotion — a joint venture of the Israeli Innovation Institute, the Alternative Fuels and Smart Transportation Administration in the Prime Minister’s Office, and the Economy Ministry.
Innovation hubs and labs run by global automakers like
Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi and Ford are also part of the ecosystem. And companies like Honda, GM, BMW and Volkswagen regularly scout and invest in Israeli tech in this field.
EcoMotion’s executive director, Eviatar Tron, said that about a decade ago, innovation authorities “recognized [an] inherent opportunity for Israel” where even if “the country does not possess an advantage in the traditional production of vehicles or transportation products,” its “human capital holds the potential to transform Israel into a global industry leader.”
“Fast forward a decade: There are more than 650 startups in the community, dozens of global corporations have offices here scouting Israeli innovation, and leading investors and accelerators are specializing in mobility,” said Tron.
