This week, Israeli venture capital-funded battery innovator StoreDot, which has developed a line of extreme fast charging (XFC) batteries for electric vehicles (EVs), announced that it, in cooperation with Israel’s state-owned utility, the Israeli Electric Company (IEC), has been approved by NASA to conduct the first space-based research and development program into new battery materials.
During the Israel Space Agency and Ramon Foundation’s RAKIA mission to the International Space Station in February 2022, StoreDot’s XFC technology will undergo two weeks of rigorous testing in zero gravity conditions. Specifically, coin cells of StoreDot’s silicon-dominant anode XFC battery will undergo hundreds of charge and discharge cycles in an experiment co-designed and funded by the IEC. Upon returning to Earth, StoreDot will analyze the data generated from the experiment to determine any physical or chemical changes to the battery.
StoreDot says the results of these experiments will be used to develop the next generation of advanced lithium-ion batteries, and speed the time to market for its “5-minute” charge battery (which it calls the XFC FlashBattery), by calibrating energy density and cycle life to the needs of EV OEMs. Specifically, StoreDot wants to understand any chemical reactions that cause silicon to expand during the fast-charging process.
The ability to charge a battery very quickly has been engineered by StoreDot’s adjustment to the conventional lithium-ion battery recipe, replacing graphite in the cell’s anode with metalloid nano-particles (specifically silicon) to overcome issues of safety, cycle life and cell swelling during the charging process.
“We are incredibly proud to join forces with the IEC, The Ramon Foundation and the Israel Space Agency on this historic mission,” StoreDot CEO, Dr. Doron Myersdorf, said in announcing the partnership. “StoreDot remains steadfast on pushing the boundaries of battery materials research and development and this project marks the next exciting stage in that journey. This will be the first time XFC has been tested in the zero gravity conditions of space and we believe the results could be absolutely game-changing. Not only in terms of advancing XFC technology, but also, potentially, by opening up entirely new avenues in materials research that will have implications that extend far beyond the battery industry.”
Jointly funded by the Israel Space Agency and The Ramon Foundation, the RAKIA (“sky” in Hebrew) program is Israel’s contribution to Ax-1, the world’s first private mission to the ISS. StoreDot is one of just two companies chosen by the IEC to participate in the program. In total, more than 40 experiments will be undertaken during the mission spanning areas including chemistry, astrophysics, optics, radiation, genetic research immunology, and agtech.
“As this is something that has never done before it’s difficult to know exactly what we will discover, but the methodology of analysing reactions in space has huge potential and will enable us discover things that simply would not be possible on Earth,” Myersdorf said. “It is incredible to think that this experiment conducted some 200 miles above Earth could have significant implications for improving the quality of life on its surface. Not only by helping to accelerate the transition to clean electric mobility through the development of advanced lithium-ion batteries, but also potentially opening up entirely new avenues for material research that can support the development of other transformative industries – from healthcare and renewable energy to utilities and chemicals.”
StoreDot’s strategic investors include BP, Daimler, TDK and Samsung Ventures. The company achieved its first major milestone in 2019 with a small cell demonstration of XFC technology to complete the world’s first full live charge of a two-wheeled EV in five minutes. In January of this year, Store launched engineering samples of the small form factor battery, proving that XFC is commercially viable and scalable on traditional lithium-ion battery production lines.
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