Electric cars get first battery that can charge in 5 minutes

Israeli company StoreDot Ltd. has manufactured the first battery for electric vehicles that can be charged in just five minutes, a step toward making refueling as fast as cars at a gas station.

The lithium-ion samples were produced by StoreDot’s strategic partner in China, Eve Energy Co., and have been used as a demonstration in a two-wheeled scooter. StoreDot said that rapid charging batteries could overcome range and charging anxiety, a critical barrier to mainstream EV adoption.

However, batteries that charge this quickly may not be achievable at scale for years with existing plug-in infrastructure. Degradation relating to use of fast-charging also is an under-appreciated issue.

StoreDot is aiming for a 2025 mass roll-out if it can find the right strategic partners, chief executive officer Doron Myersdorf said in an interview. Now that chemistry has proved extreme fast charging can be done, the battle becomes the infrastructure, he added.

“It’s not only a laboratory experiment, it’s a mass production product that is scalable,” Myersdorf said. “We’ve really focused on where the holy grail is – five-minute charging of electric vehicles.”

Myersdorf said the company has thousands of samples to share with potential partners like tier 1 battery-makers – ones which that can supply EVs.

“This is a huge positive to the industry, making rapid charging on the go more convenient and reducing a huge barrier to adoption,” said David Watson, CEO of EV-charging company Ohme Technologies UK Ltd. “But these benefits will take a while to come on stream.”

StoreDot was picked by BloombergNEF as one of its top 10 companies of 2020 leading the low-carbon transition. BP invested $20m in the company in 2018 and raised $60m from companies including Daimler AG in 2017.