The technology that allows you to charge your cell phone in 5 minutes.

Do not lose sight of Doron Myersdorf. Bloomberg has placed his company, StoreDot, on its list of startups to watch carefully for next year.

And is that the proposal of this Israeli company can revolutionize the market for cell phones, personal computers and even the entire automotive industry.

After having obtained financing in the order of US $ 130 million, and with the backing of one of the largest oil companies in the world, BP, StoreDot plans to develop batteries capable of recharging a smartphone in 60 seconds or an electric vehicle in 5 minutes with enough charge for a journey of about 500 km.

But, for now, the startup will start selling in the second half of 2020 chargers capable of fully charging a cell phone`s battery in five minutes.

This is 20 times faster than we can do today.

Its technology is based on a combination of nanotechnologies and a new generation of organic compounds that store energy more efficiently and safely than current systems.

StoreDot batteries use lithium, but they replace the graphite used by all other electric battery manufacturers with a mixture of metalloids, that is, substances with intermediate properties between metals and non-metals.

Barriers to the electric car
In recent years the company has registered 31 patents and is pending that the authorities register 50 more.

But it`s not just smartphones that will benefit from this innovation. Also the electric vehicle industry.

The main barriers when buying a car with electric batteries are that its range in kilometers is still limited and that when one stops to refuel, depending on the model, it can take between 45 minutes and 4 hours.

According to BloombergNEF, electric vehicles will account for more than half of all new car sales in 2040, as prices drop and battery life lengthens.

And manufacturers have been trying to increase the chemical "density" of the battery so that an electric car can travel further on a single charge.

The latest high-end electric vehicles from Tesla, Chevrolet and other manufacturers, for example, allow trips of almost 500 kilometers in optimal conditions. But reloading is still a slow process.

That`s where StoreDot is concentrating its efforts.

A reality
Before launching into the complex world of electric vehicles, however, the company will start selling motorcycle batteries. It has already tested them and they offer a range of 70 kilometers.

The reason for selling this first is that the car battery will need 10 times more cells of power than the scooter battery, and StoreDot still needs to find an even more efficient way of cooling while in use, Myersdorf said.

The heating of the electric batteries, which led to the explosion of several Samsung Galaxy or the engines of some Tesla, is another problem that the industry must solve.

For now, Meyersdorf also assured the ISRAEL21c website that its batteries "use half the cobalt" than the others available now.

This is important, said the CEO, because 60% of the cobalt comes from mines located in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in the crosshairs of international organizations for child exploitation.

"This unique technology has the potential to become the latest fast charging standard in industries such as mobile devices or electric vehicles, but also for power tools, electric toys, household appliances and others," the company says on its website.

Publication Date: 2019-12-20

Source: BBC News Mundo