FT StoreDot battery

Samples of a new electric vehicle (EV) battery that can be charged in five minutes have been released by StoreDot, a developer of extreme fast charging (XFC) battery technology whose investors include BP.

StoreDot said it was releasing the first production batch of sample cells to showcase the technology to potential EV and industry partners.

The sample cells were produced by StoreDot’s strategic partner in China – EVE Energy. StoreDot said that unlike competing technologies which require significant capital expenditure in bespoke manufacturing equipment, StoreDot XFC batteries are designed to be produced on existing Li-ion production lines at EVE Energy.

Doron Myersdorf, CEO of StoreDot, commented: “StoreDot continues to go from strength to strength as we get one step closer to making our vision of five-minute charging of EVs a commercial reality.

“Our team of top scientists has overcome 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.”

He added: “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 XFC charging is possible – first in 2019 with an electric scooter and again six months ago with a commercial drone. 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.”