An Israeli startup is setting its sights on creating a battery for electric cars that charges in just five minutes. If they meet their goal, the battery would be able to power a car for hundreds of miles in a single charge. StoreDot, founded in 2012, has already developed the FlashBattery for Smartphones that can fully charge in less than a minute. The startup has raised $66 million which it plans to use to get their FlashBattery technology into electric cars.
The relatively slow growth of the electric car market is often blamed upon the inconvenience of recharging. The best batteries currently available can last up to 250 miles, but take several hours to fully charge using a standard charger. Tesla’s high-speed charger takes 30 minutes to give their batteries about 170 miles of range, while Toyota’s Rav4, which takes longer to charge, can only go around 100 miles per charge. A fast-charging, affordable battery with long range, like the one StoreDot has proposed, could be the key to making electric cars more popular than their gas-powered competitors.
Related: The world’s fastest charging electric bus powers up in 10 seconds flat
StoreDot describes their battery as a sponge, which soaks up electricity like a sponge soaks up water. The technology is based on peptides that have been turned into energy-storing nanotubes. The nanotubes, affectionately named Nanodots by the company, can soak up huge amounts of electricity all at once. Using around 7,000 of these Nanodots, they have promised to create an EV battery that goes the distance.
“This fast-charging technology shortens the amount of time drivers will have to wait in line to charge their cars, while also reducing the number of charging posts in each station,” Dr. Doron Myersdorf, StoreDot’s CEO told crowds at the 2014 ThinkNext event. It will result in “considerably cutting the overall cost of owning an electric car.”
Via Fortune
Lead image via Tesla Motors, other images via StoreDot
