Mercedes-Benz, or rather its parent company Daimler, is just one of a number of big automakers with a stated aim of moving towards having the majority of its models running on electricity in the not too distant future. And that's why Daimler is investing in Israeli startup StoreDot, which is a company working on groundbreaking developments in electric vehicle battery technology.
If petrol and diesel really are going to be abandoned, the problem of the limited range of electric vehicles has to be overcome, or does it? The current emphasis in EV development appears to be on creating batteries that can store more electricity for greater vehicle operating ranges. But as ranges of over 300 miles are now being achieved by the likes of Tesla, it seems the emphasis might be shifting to charging times. And that's where StoreDot comes in because it's working on developing a way an electric vehicle can be fully recharged in as little as five minutes.
So far, StoreDot has raised some $60 million in investment, which has come from a number of investors that include high-profile contributors such as Daimler, Samsung, and Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovitch.
StoreDot will use the investment for developing what it calls its "FlashBattery," which is a replacement for traditional Lithium Ion battery technology that will deliver at least 300 miles of range on a single charge.
The obvious aim is for FlashBatteries to go into production electric vehicles as a replacement for current forms of electric power storage. Daimler's involvement makes that a more realistic eventuality as it's already producing electric vehicles, so StoreDot and Daimler will be able to jointly work on vehicle-friendly solutions.
In both Europe and the United States, studies have shown more than 75 percent of motorists do less miles per day on average in their vehicles than the range already offered by today's EVs. If an electric car could be recharged fully in as little as five minutes, the days of "range-anxiety" could be over forever, and electricity could replace diesel and petrol faster than many people would ever have believed.
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