Automotive

StoreDot electric car battery can be filled in 5 minutes

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StoreDot wants to put a battery capable of a full, 300 mile charge in just five minutes on the market 
StoreDot
How FlashDot visualises the NanoDot technology inside its batteries
StoreDot
A look at the FlashBattery 
StoreDot
StoreDot wants to put a battery capable of a full, 300 mile charge in just five minutes on the market 
StoreDot
One of the battery pouches making up the larger FlashBattery
StoreDot
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Electric cars are developing at a rapid rate, but one part of the equation has always lagged behind fossil fuel alternatives. No matter how you swing it, charging up current electric cars is painfully slow. A company based in Tel Aviv wants to change that with the FlashBattery, which it claims can be filled in just five minutes.

Why is charging batteries a slow process? In part, it's is down to safety, and in part it's because fast charging causes accelerated wear on current lithium-ion batteries. StoreDot has been teasing a solution to these problems for a while now. Initially, the company demonstrated the tech in a smartphone, before turning its attention to the burgeoning electric car market.

The FlashBattery makes use of something called nanodots to deliver fast charging. Nanodots are chemically synthesized peptide molecules. They form the basis for a multi-function electrode, allowing super capacitor-style rapid charging with a slow discharge similar to a lithium-ion battery. The chemical compound isn't flammable and has a higher combustion temperature than graphite, which cuts the resistance of the battery.

From a production standpoint, the nanodots are made from a range of environmentally friendly bio-organic raw materials that are naturally abundant and, according to StoreDot, cheap to manufacture.

A look at the FlashBattery 
StoreDot

The company has been talking about the potential for a full-scale EV battery using this technology, recently demonstrating the proof of concept at an event in Berlin. This demonstration involved charging a single battery cell, and it's not clear at this point what sort of charging infrastructure is needed to make the five minute charge a reality for an entire car.

StoreDot says the FlashBattery is in the advanced stages of development, and suggests it could be popping up in electric vehicles within the next three years. At the moment, maximum range its planned battery pack could deliver is said to be around 300 miles (483 km), which would put it on par with the 90 kWh Tesla Model S.

"Fast Charging is the critical missing link needed to make electric vehicles ubiquitous," Says Dr. Doron Myersdorf, Co-Founder and CEO of StoreDot. "The currently available battery technology dictates long charging times which makes the EV form of transportation inadequate for the public at large."

Check out the video below for a look at how the FlashBattery works.

Source: StoreDot

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12 comments
Gizmowiz
So many new battery technologies out there it's ridiculous to keep up with. Let the good times roll.
Techtwit
Recharge a battery of that sort of capacity in 5 mins? What size cables are needed to supply that sort of ampage, given UK domestic supply is 230v and most countries are in the same ball park? Imagine the load on the national power distribution system of a few hundred thousand people all arriving home from work about the same time as the TVs go on and the evening meal is being prepared, all on top of the normal base load. What sort of additional equipment would be needed in the power generating facilities to cope with peak load? Nice idea but still doesn't solve one of the major problems with all electric transport solutions - providing the electricity.
StWils
Vincent multiple solutions with multiple low cost, safe, re-useable, and low-to-non-toxic materials will serve to keep delivered costs down and speed world-wide deployment. While this application is about vehicles there are stationary power storage needs that actually are much larger in scale and potentially far more important than just lowering the cost and environmental impact of getting around town. Perhaps the single biggest value of multiple choices is the potential to prevent any oligarch 1/10th percenter from establishing a monopoly on this technology that is so critical to everyone's future. A widely dispersed array of choices could prevent anyone from cornering access to cheap energy.
Kpar
Many claims, few make it to market. We shall see.
guzmanchinky
Bye bye oil. Good riddance.
LordInsidious
great!
JohnAshley
Actually this is just one of two "critical missing links". The other is consumer price. To achieve a critical mass of consumer acceptance is going to require that EVs become no more costly to purchase/own than a typical gas powered auto. That means in the $20K range, and the lower the better. Since batteries are expensive, maybe this tech will help with that.
MQ
Oh the doubters.
Charging a battery in 5 min. sounds great.
Ok, full charge is merely what the manufacturer of the battery and charging system say it is. "Completely" charging a battery (to 100% capacity) at constant voltage takes forever (literally)..
So the key to fast charging a battery is to: "say that it is full" as soon as the constant current phase is completed (when cell voltages peak for the first time) as long as the CC phase (max allowable current) gets the job done in 5 mins (merely 12C charge rate) it should be good to go ...(wait till more results are published.
All ye Doubters re Grid support.. Of course you would actually be dumping from a hybrid super-capacitor bank, or fast discharge battery, which can take all day and night to suck its power from the grid no need for high current loads off the grid... (OR just give the charging station a 13kV line-in.)
watersworm
Great ! How many times theses will have a 5 minutes charging ??
Mattiede
Assuming the mentioned 90 kWh to be charged in 5 min this would mean 90 x (60/5) = 90 x 12 or about 1 gigaWatt of power, a lot of Amperes to travel through our garage in the 5 minutes... Better have a fire extinguisher ready, You never know.