StoreDot says its silicon-dominant batteries will enable smaller battery packs capable of extreme fast charging, leading to more accessible EVs
13 April 2023
StoreDot, the developer of extreme fast charging (XFC) battery technology (earlier post), says it will soon be manufacturing silicon-dominant batteries that enable car makers to design and produce cheaper, lighter and more sustainable EVs.
With the optimal driver experience of extreme fast charging in mind, StoreDot’s technology has reached sufficient charging and discharging cycles that it will enable vehicle manufacturers to include a smaller battery pack. Smaller packs with XFC translate into improved EV specifications including better car efficiency, increased utilization of regenerative braking, reduced carbon footprint and lower costs. As a result, such affordable and lighter EVs will serve a broader audience and further enhance the adoption and transition to EVs.
StoreDot says it is now on track to deliver its 100in5 silicon-dominant extreme fast charging batteries to EV OEMs by next year. This technology will deliver 100 miles (160 km) of range in just five minutes of charge. As a result, EV drivers will no longer need to worry about the range between charges, or charging times, allowing car makers to re-evaluate the specifications of electric vehicles. With StoreDot’s XFC technology, OEMs will be able to optimize a vehicle’s weight and cost, rather than pushing for ever greater range and battery size.
Downsizing from an average premium vehicle requiring an 80kWh to a 50kWh battery pack could save approximately 200kg from the EV’s weight (the equivalent weight of 3-4 people) and importantly, could reduce the build cost of the car by $4,500, depending on metal cost fluctuations and energy density improvements.
The environmental impact of such a design change will be highly significant as it will lower amount of raw materials used in each vehicle, reducing its EV carbon footprint throughout its lifecycle. XFC in smaller packs also means efficient regenerative braking as it can accommodate the corresponding recuperated high currents.
The two remaining barriers to EV ownership are charging anxiety and cost, and StoreDot’s XFC solution was designed to assist with both. Radically reduced charging times will allow automotive manufacturers to rethink how they approach battery size and range. When charging times are no longer an issue, it makes a lot more sense to fit smaller battery packs. The cost savings could transform the accessibility of EVs and sustainability of batteries, with better car efficiency, fewer raw materials needed and less recycling at the end of their in-vehicle life.
—Dr Doron Myersdorf, StoreDot CEO
StoreDot’s XFC battery cells are now being tested by more than 15 global automotive manufacturers, while the company continues to develop its manufacturing partnerships on a global scale.
All is not quite as rosy in the StoreDot garden as their PR gives the impression on first take.
From the diagram, they are giving 2000kg for a 'normal car' with 80KWh
So 25kg per KWh
For the StoreDot job, we have 1800kg for 50KWh
So 36kg per KWh
That is a hefty weight increase....
Posted by: Davemart | 13 April 2023 at 02:49 AM
@Dave, surely they mean that the whole car weighs 2000 Kg and it has an 80 kWh battery.
They suggest that the 30 kWh saved weighs 200 kg, so they are allowing 333 kg for the 50 kWh battery and 533 kg for the 80 kWh battery.
The batteries weight 6.6 kg per kWh, in both cases as far as I can see.
IMO, the problem will be finding 210 KW chargers, assuming the rest of the system works.
Posted by: mahonj | 13 April 2023 at 02:57 AM
Jim:
If they could back up the more favourable case you present, then they would say so, or if they have not, it is incompetant.
It is on the cards that allowing very fast charging will increase battery weight, just as pushing any other metric, such as the higher cycle rate PHEVs require against BEVs does.
The problem for batteries has been for many years that by and large if you improve one metric you hurt one of the others,
Fortunately that is not entirely the case, but it has certainly scuppered many alleged 'wonder breakthroughs'
I have been following them for 15 years or so, hence my somewhat jaundiced or at least skeptical predisposition.
Elon Musk said the level of deception and overselling in batteries is unparallelled, and whatever criticisms I might have of him, he has a very high level of expertise when it comes to overselling and deception..........
Posted by: Davemart | 13 April 2023 at 01:01 PM
@dave, I think I am right (at 6.6 kg / kWh). If you look at their previous post, it begins: "The 300Wh/kg, 700 Wh/l high energy density cells..." so this is 3.3 kg / kWh (in theory), and thus not such a stretch to get to 6.6 in a real application.
I also agree with your Elon Musk quote about "level of deception and overselling in batteries", as anyone who has followed this website for several years will attest.
I still stick to my notion that the biggest problem will be finding 200 KW charging stations, and to note that 70% of a 50 kWh (200 mile) battery is still only 140 miles, so you would have to recharge every 2 hours on a motorway, which is not that great. Even if you can charge in 10 minutes, you will have to do it every 2 hours or less.
The regenerative braking thing sounds useful, however.
Posted by: mahonj | 14 April 2023 at 07:26 AM
"It is on the cards that allowing very fast charging will increase battery weight, just as pushing any other metric, such as the higher cycle rate PHEVs require against BEVs does."
Your statement may be true in some - but certainly not in all cases. QS' solution e. g. has no Anode to start with; only a Cathode. The Anode begins to form with the charging process when material from the Cathode is shifted to the Anode. The mass / weight of the cell is lower than that of a conventional cell but has a whopping charging rate. The mass of the cell remains unchanged during the charging and discharging process.
Posted by: yoatmon | 14 April 2023 at 08:09 AM
Hi yoatman.
You said:
' Your statement may be true in some - but certainly not in all cases.'
I completely agree. That is why you will never find a post of mine dismissing the potential of batteries.
In practise though, it has been a tough haul to get really substantial improvements on all fronts at once, and if it is your livelihood, and your business depends on it, then the temptation is to oversell, and try to hide the weaknesses.
For a long time I have argued that the potential of hydrogen and fuel cells was unfairly dismissed.
That did not stop me, fairly early on, smelling a particular odiferous rat, in the case of Nikola, and saying so, repeatedly, on several forums.
And for batteries, I argue for skepticism, not dismissal.
If they ain't mentioned a metric, it has usually been the case in the past, that is because it is lousy, and the venn diagram would show what they have lost.
I would need to see very specific data from StoreDot, showing all metrics, to be convinced by them.
But I have OTOH, spoke with considerable enthusiasm about some other battery improvements, from other companies, for instance a lot of stuff that CATL is doing
We will get there, it is when, not whether, but on the way there is going to be a lot of fairground barking, with every Winna getting a Candy Floss, but unfortunately not much else! ;-)
Posted by: Davemart | 14 April 2023 at 10:54 AM