Volvo Cars has signed a multi-year agreement with the Israeli developer of fast-charging technology StoreDot. The car brand will work with the latter’s experts to develop and test XFC cells. The first fruit of the collaboration is scheduled for next year.

Storedot has been continuously working on its XFC cells (the abbreviation for ‘extreme fast charging’), showing promising results. In a test from last year, the pouch versions could fastcharge from 10 to 80% in ten minutes. Today, the company runs a testing program with fifteen US, European, and Chinese automakers without unveiling their identity.

‘Extremely pleased’

Amir Tirosh, COO of Storedot, claimed: “Our partners are extremely pleased with the results of our battery cells.” The company also develops 4860 cylindrical cells of XFC. Storedot replaces the conventional lithium-ion graphite anode with a “secret sauce” or “bio-inspired, active material nanoparticles.” It’s a silicon anode.

The deepened collaboration with Volvo, a shareholder with mother company Geely and sister brand Polestar, proves the company is on the right track. Both partners will optimize and customize the cells for use in car models from the Swedish brand. The first samples are scheduled for 2024.

Storedot wants to launch series production for its XFC technology on three continents as of the beginning of the year, and the ambition is to be as close to the automaker’s assembly plants as possible. Whether the gigafactory in Gothenburg, a joint venture with Northvolt with the first brick laid last week, is involved is not known.

It is not unusual for car makers to install different packs with different characteristics in the same model. A small series of the XFC cells at the start isn’t unthinkable. After this first generation (100in5, for charging 100 miles in five minutes), Storedot will put its efforts into semi-solid cells (100in3) and afterward attain its ultimate goal: solid-state (100in2).

Beaten by Toyota?

StoreDot is not only funded by Volvo. During its latest financing round, in January 2022, the battery cell start-up secured $80 million, of which the majority was provided by Vietnam’s EV maker VinFast. BP Ventures, the investment arm of oil giant BP, and Daimler are also important stakeholders.

Together with QuantumScape and Solidpower, Storedot is one of the dominant players in developing solid-state battery technology. However, the company’s CEO Doron Myersdorf warned that the sector shouldn’t overpromise on this technology.

He predicts that production won’t be scaled up before the beginning of the next decade. Toyota, which is a pioneer in this field among automakers through in-house development together with Panasonic, wants to accelerate that roadmap. It stated it’s on track for a limited-run production in 2025 and a BEV with solid-state tech within a few years.