Israeli firm StoreDot rolls out electric car batteries that recharge in 5 minutes

It’s been a dream to charge an electric car battery as fast as a petrol car refuels and it’s happening.

StoreDot batteries produced by EVE Energy Co

It’s been a dream of EV battery makers to charge a car battery as fast as a petrol car refuels at the bowser. That dream is becoming reality with Israeli battery company StoreDot overnight announcing the availability of its first-generation five-minute charge battery engineering samples that use its extreme fast charging (XFC) technology.

It says this is no longer at the design stage, the batteries have been demonstrated working with an electric scooter and commercial drone, and samples are rolling out the door. “This represents a significant milestone for the company in its mission to eliminate the range and charging anxiety of electric vehicles (EVs), demonstrating the commercial viability of XFC batteries for the first time via a small form-factor battery cell,” StoreDot says.

The fact StoreDot is on this path is not new. In 2016, The Australian visited the StoreDot pavilion at the Mobile World Congress forum in Barcelona, at which the company spoke of its promise of the five-minute charge.

At the congress, it demonstrated a modified Samsung phone going from five per cent charge to 100 per cent charge in five minutes, 25 seconds. Samsung Ventures is one of its strategic investors, along with BP, Daimler and TDK.

It spoke of fully charging a smartphone in 30 seconds. It was using a 20-pin connector to achieve this.

“ We are proud to make these samples available, but today’s milestone is just the beginning. We’re on the cusp of achieving a revolution in the EV charging experience that will remove the critical barrier to mass adoption of EVs,” said StoreDot CEO Dr Doron Myersdorf.

This type of fast charging has been possible for some time, however as StoreDot told us in 2016, without the right materials, this fast charging could almost destroy the battery or heavily reduce its recharge capacity.

The company said it had successfully replaced graphite in the cell’s anode using metalloid nanoparticles, which it said was key to overcoming major issues in safety, battery cycle life and swelling.

It said the sample cells were produced by StoreDot’s strategic partner in China – EVE Energy Co. Ltd. It said the batteries could be produced on existing Li-ion production lines at EVE, so mass production should be scaled up easily.

Dr Myersdorf said scientists at the company had addressed inherent challenges of XFC such as safety, cycle life and swelling by harnessing innovative materials and cell design.

“Today’s announcement marks an important milestone, moving XFC for the first time beyond innovation in the lab to a commercially-viable product that is scalable for mass production.

“This paves the way for the launch of our second-generation, silicon-dominant anode prototype battery for electric vehicles later this year.”

More information about StoreDot’s technology can be found here.