Ricky Ben-David is The Times of Israel’s Tech Israel editor and reporter.
Swedish carmaker Volvo has made a strategic investment in StoreDot, an Israeli developer of extreme fast-charging (XFC) battery technology for electric vehicles (EVs), according to a joint announcement Tuesday.
The amount was not disclosed but comes less than a month since a major Indian electric scooter maker and ride-hailing service, Ola Electric, made a multi-million-dollar investment in the Israeli company as part of its Series D investment round of some $80 million.
StoreDot has been working with strategic investors such as BP Ventures, the venture arm of the British multinational oil and gas firm BP plc, Daimler AG, the maker of the Mercedes Benz cars, Japanese electronic multinational TDK, and South Korea’s Samsung Ventures, to move ahead with its technologies.
The Israeli company announced the Series D round in January, led by Vietnamese electric vehicle manufacturer VinFast, a unit of Vietnamese conglomerate VinGroup.
StoreDot said the funding will be used for research and development and to reach mass production for its silicon-dominant anode XFC lithium-ion cells, which it says will be capable of delivering 100 miles (160 kilometers) of driving range in five minutes of charging by 2024.
The Volvo investment was made through the Volvo Cars Tech Fund, the carmaker’s venture capital arm. Volvo announced last year that it plans to become a fully electric car company by 2030 and a leader in the electric vehicle market.
Alexander Petrofski, head of Volvo Cars Tech Fund, said in a statement Tuesday that Volvo aims “to be the fastest transformer in our industry and the Tech Fund plays a crucial role in establishing partnerships with future technology leaders.”
“Our investment in StoreDot is a perfect fit for that mindset and its commitment to electrification and carbon-free mobility matches our own. We are excited to make this collaboration successful for both parties, working towards bringing this groundbreaking technology to the market,” said Petrofski.
Based in Herzliya, StoreDot was founded in 2012 and 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.
Storedot CEO Dr. Doron Myersdorf has said the company’s mission was to solve some of the biggest barriers to mass EV adoption: range anxiety — a concern among drivers that the battery will run out of power before they can get to their destination — and charging time.
Myersdorf said Tuesday that StoreDot was “extremely excited and proud to be entering into a collaboration with a premium automotive brand. Volvo Cars’ commitment to zero-emissions electric vehicles is hugely impressive and one that fits perfectly with StoreDot’s mission.”
“We are working to ensure that EV drivers will never have to be concerned with anxiety overcharging times, currently the major barrier to EV ownership and a cleaner world,” said Myersdorf.
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