They developed Batteries for Electric Vehicles that Charge in 5 Minutes

Car batteries were made for the first time that fully charge in just five minutes. It is a milestone that will contribute to the advancement of electric vehicles. This new advance comes from the hand of the new lithium-ion batteries developed by the Israeli company StoreDot and manufactured by Eve Energy in China.

The company revolutionized the conventional lithium-ion battery by designing and synthesizing organic and inorganic compounds, which makes it possible to charge an electric vehicle in the same time it takes to charge a car with a conventional combustion engine.

StoreDot launched the first batch of sample production to demonstrate this technology to companies in the electric vehicle and related industries. This first-generation battery was used to demonstrate a full charge of a two-wheeler in 5 minutes. In addition, it can offer ultra-fast charging to other equipment, such as commercial drones and other electrical devices.

Samples from these first-generation batteries prove that graphite at the cell anode can be successfully replaced using metalloid nanoparticles, a key advance in extending battery cycle life as well as solving other performance and safety issues.

The batteries can be fully charged in five minutes, but to be able to translate this idea in a massive way, chargers of much more power would be required than those used today. With the charging infrastructure available today, StoreDot aims, by 2025, to deliver about 100 miles of charge to a car battery in five minutes.

The StoreDot battery replaces graphite with semiconductor nanoparticles in which ions can more easily pass (StoreDot) 

The technology

StoreDot innovation is based on a holistic design process, which integrates cellular chemistry as well as engineering. “Our methodology includes a layer of artificial intelligence and machine learning tools to optimize the overall system. This overcomes the limitations of ultra-fast charging lithium-ion batteries while using standard lithium-ion battery manufacturing facilities and processes, ”the company highlights on its official website.

Traditional lithium ion batteries use graphite as an electrode, into which the lithium ions are introduced to store the charge. But when charged quickly, the ions become congested and can turn to metal and short-circuit the battery, according to an article published in The Guardian.

The StoreDot battery replaces graphite with semiconductor nanoparticles in which ions can pass more easily and faster. These nanoparticles are based on germanium, but in the future the plan is to use silicon, which is much cheaper. The company expects to have prototypes made with this material by the end of the year, as mentioned on its official site.

This technology would contribute to the advancement of electric vehicles (REUTERS / Eric Gaillard / Archive) 

A milestone that will contribute to the electric vehicle industry

“We founded StoreDot to achieve what many said could never be done: develop batteries capable of delivering a full charge in just five minutes. We have shown that this level of ultra-fast charging is possible, first in 2019 with an electric scooter and again six months ago with a commercial drone. We are proud that these samples are available, but today’s milestone is just the beginning. We are on the cusp of achieving a revolution in the electric vehicle charging experience that will remove the critical barrier to mass adoption of electric vehicles, ”said Doron Myersdorf, CEO of StoreDot.

Daimler, BP, Samsung and TDK have invested in StoreDot, which has already raised $ 130 million to date and was named a pioneer in finance company by Bloomberg New Energy in 2020.