Photo: StoreDot
When we last spoke about StoreDot in November 2021, we said the Israeli battery startup should disclose which automakers are partnering with it. At the time, StoreDot said it was shipping A-samples to car companies, but that was too generic to inspire confidence. When announcing a Series D funding round, StoreDot finally revealed one of its automotive partners: VinFast.
If you are not familiar with this Vietnamese carmaker, it recently made some headlines after Michael Lohscheller became its CEO and left after less than five months trying to turn it into a global brand. VinFast may not bring the same credibility Volkswagen lent to QuantumScape, but at least it shows the Israeli battery startup really has at least one automotive partner.
StoreDot said it is developing XFC (Extreme Fast Charge) cells with silicon-dominant chemistry. It also stated that it is working on solid-state batteries with extreme energy density (XED) for 2028 and on battery packs that present a “fixed battery driving range for the duration of its useful service life.” Considering nobody has ever promised anything similar, bold claims need irrefutable proof. StoreDot is yet to provide that.
If the company can deliver what it is promising with its new cells, StoreDot’s technology may make electric cars as convenient and easy to replenish as a fuel tank. That’s one of the major advantages solid-state cells would offer over conventional ternary batteries. Just like StoreDot, the first ones to reach the market are promised to some point between 2024 and 2025. Depending on what they offer, they may make StoreDot’s technology prematurely obsolete.
Apart from VinFast, StoreDot also counts with BP Ventures, EVE Energy (the Chinese battery maker that is producing its A-samples), Samsung Ventures, TDK, and Daimler. With the $80 million the Series D funding round will bring, StoreDot plans to complete research and development, ramp up its California-based R&D center and make arrangements for mass-producing its cells in 2024.
StoreDot said it is developing XFC (Extreme Fast Charge) cells with silicon-dominant chemistry. It also stated that it is working on solid-state batteries with extreme energy density (XED) for 2028 and on battery packs that present a “fixed battery driving range for the duration of its useful service life.” Considering nobody has ever promised anything similar, bold claims need irrefutable proof. StoreDot is yet to provide that.
If the company can deliver what it is promising with its new cells, StoreDot’s technology may make electric cars as convenient and easy to replenish as a fuel tank. That’s one of the major advantages solid-state cells would offer over conventional ternary batteries. Just like StoreDot, the first ones to reach the market are promised to some point between 2024 and 2025. Depending on what they offer, they may make StoreDot’s technology prematurely obsolete.
Apart from VinFast, StoreDot also counts with BP Ventures, EVE Energy (the Chinese battery maker that is producing its A-samples), Samsung Ventures, TDK, and Daimler. With the $80 million the Series D funding round will bring, StoreDot plans to complete research and development, ramp up its California-based R&D center and make arrangements for mass-producing its cells in 2024.
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