BP’s venture capital arm, BP Ventures announced that it plans to invest US$20 million (RM79.6 million) in StoreDot, an Israeli battery startup company that claims its new-generation batteries can offer five-minute charging for electric vehicles.
StoreDot claims to have developed a lithium ion-based battery technology which enables ultra-fast charging for the mobile and industrial markets. Currently, the company is also developing a new FlashBattery for electric cars, one that will achieve a charging experience comparable to the time spent in refuelling a traditional car.
Apparently, the FlashBattery uses a combination of gradient layers of nano materials and proprietary organic compounds. Graphite, which is commonly used in lithium-ion battery cells, is omitted because it is unable to sustain the high currents required for fast charging.
StoreDot’s proprietary chemical compound is said to be inflammable and has a higher combustion temperature, reducing battery resistance considerably and improving safety. First sales of the flash batteries for mobile devices is expected to start as early as 2019.
Co-founder and CEO of StoreDot, Dr Doron Myerdorf said “working closely together with a global energy leader is a significant milestone in StoreDot’s direction of strengthening the EV ultra-fast charging eco-system. The combination of BP’s impressive presence and StoreDot’s eco-system of EV partnerships enables faster implementation of ultra-fast charging stations and could allow a better charging experience for drivers.”
According to BP, ultra-fast charging will be key in accelerating the adoption of EVs worldwide, and it is working across the supply chain to support the development of the technologies and infrastructure required to support that growth.
“The technology to support EVs is advancing rapidly and BP Ventures is committed to identifying and investing in companies that we believe are at the cutting edge of this industry,” BP Ventures’ VP of business development, David Gilmour, said.
“StoreDot has shown significant progress in the development of ultra-fast charging, both in mobile phone and vehicle applications. BP looks forward to working alongside them, as an investor and strategic partner, to bring their technology from the lab to the vehicle,” he added.
It’s coming.
Safety.
Reasonable durability.
It is a matter of time that the charging time of batteries will come tumbling down. Thanks to companies willing to invest into future batteries technologies. With Crude oil rising, EV/PHEV is the future.
So I take it that our current battery tech compared to this FlashBattery is equivalent of using charcoal to power a car compared to petrol to power a car.
Try not to get your hope up too high though. While their proven battery capacity is up to 5000 cycles with 700mAh. Which is amazing! Should last 20 years? But StoreDot says it requires 7000 cells to make an 80kWh battery to get the 300 miles. A Tesla S requires 100kWh to get to 310 miles… While it sounds possible, read the next part before concluding it’s going to be in the market soon.
Thirdly and the BIGGEST FACTOR in the tech is. The charger needs to be hooked to a one-megawatt station per car… And our national grid only makes 11,000kWh a month… To put things into perspective, our home AC only needs 1~2kWh. To charge the car battery, the outlet need to supply 83.33kWh per car or about 130 cars at the same time in the entire country… In other words, our national grid cant support this system…
References;
https://techcrunch.com/2017/09/14/quick-charging-battery-startup-storedot-gets-60m-on-500m-valuation-led-by-daimler/
https://www.geektime.com/2015/08/19/super-battery-startup-storedot-raises-18m-to-revolutionize-the-electric-vehicle-industry/
https://www.ceicdata.com/en/malaysia/electricity-generation-and-consumption/electricity-consumption