VinFast announces battery cooperation with StoreDot
Vietnamese electric car startup VinFast has announced another battery development collaboration, this time with Israeli company StoreDot. VinFast wants access to the Israelis’ fast-charging batteries – and potentially to manufacture batteries itself.
VinFast had already recently agreed to cooperate with Volkswagen’s battery partner Gotion High-Tech on the development and production of LFP cells. Together with Taiwanese battery cell manufacturer ProLogium, VinFast is also reportedly working on the commercialization of solid-state batteries.
According to VinGroup, the parent company of the electric car startup, VinFast’s goal is to “advance and gain a competitive advantage in the global EV market.” To this end, the brand’s vehicles will be equipped “with technologies of the future.”
As part of the cooperation with StoreDot, the Vietnamese want to secure access to the Israeli company’s fast-charging technology in particular. StoreDot is working on batteries that can be charged to 80 per cent in just four to five minutes. At the core of the technology, marketed as “XFC-FlashBattery,” is a silicon-dominated anode. According to VinFast, StoreDort uses nanoparticles instead of graphite.
Exactly what areas the cooperation between StoreDot and VinFast covers is not clear from the VinGroup announcement. Nor does it mention a specific time frame.
StoreDot had announced sample cells for its potential partners in January, and in May it signed a strategic framework agreement with Chinese battery cell manufacturer EVE Energy that is expected to result in volume production of the “XFC-FlashBattery” by 2024. Just last week, StoreDot filed a patent application for the ‘Booster’ charging technology.
While the cooperation with Gotion High-Tech is probably intended to ensure the prompt supply of the first VinFast models with LFP cells, the partnerships with ProLogium and StoreDot seem to be aimed more at the future.
However, it is becoming apparent that VinFast potentially wants to build the cells developed under the collaborations itself – rather than buy them from other partners (such as EVE Energy). Vingroup Vice Chairwoman Thuy Le indicated during the technology update that they plan to build battery production facilities in Europe and the U.S., as well as a factory in Vietnam. Again, no details were provided.
0 Comments