New Battery Company Aims To Quell Fears Of "Range Anxiety"

As newer models of electric vehicles (EVs) roll off the assembly line, sales of such automobiles began to decline last year. Many feel that cheaper gas is to blame because consumers don't want to pay a higher sticker price for an EV when they can get a traditional car or truck and not have to break the bank to fill it. But factors like limited range and long charge times can also wreak havoc on EV sales, and battery producer StoreDot is out to change this by making charging such cars quicker and easier. 

StoreDot, a small Israeli start-up company founded in 2013  and based in Tel Aviv, has a very ambitious goal - they want drivers to be able to charge their EVs in five minutes. They also have backing from some pretty major players in the technology world, including Samsung. The company has already released a demo in which their battery technology recharges a smartphone in around thirty seconds. 

Charging times for today's electric cars can take as long as 12 hours to get a full charge. EV trailblazer Tesla has already tried to address this issue with their Supercharger network. But even those ports can take around 30 minutes for just an 80 percent charge. The average consumer isn't going to want to wait around for half an hour waiting for their car to charge when filling up at any gas station takes just a few minutes. Current quick charge systems can also generate more heat within the battery, shortening it's long-term life.

"You need to recharge in less than eight minutes, which is around what it typically takes to refuel," said Erez Lorber, Senior Vice President for the manufacturer. He says that their technology also generates less heat "because there is lower internal resistance." This also lowers the risk of a battery fire; a problem that has cause many airlines to ban shipment of lithium-ion batteries. 

The company's batteries use what's known as "form factor," meaning that the battery can be tailored to fit into a variety of devices. As opposed to Tesla, who's cars utilize batteries shaped like traditional D-cells.