Volvo has its eyes on StoreDot’s XFC cells
Israeli battery developer StoreDot has signed a multi-year contract with Volvo Cars for battery cell development. The cooperation, involving experts from both sides, is expected to produce modified XFC cells that will be tailor-made for Volvo Cars’ future electric cars. Among other things, the XFC cell is said to excel in its extremely fast-charging capability – in May 2022, StoreDot demonstrated a charge to 86 per cent in ten minutes, and in October, it reported proof of durability of 1,000 fast-charge cycles with production-ready cells. These were pouch cells, but it also announced 4680 round cells.
Volvo Cars has been interested in the technology for some time. In 2022, the manufacturer made a strategic investment in StoreDot. Volvo Cars is planning its own series production of cells together with Northvolt from 2026. Both companies just started building a 50 GWh factory in Gothenburg. The partners did not disclose when the XFC cell modified for Volvo could be ready for series production.
However, StoreDot generally has quite ambitious plans. In January 2023, the Israeli company announced that 15 car brands from Europe, Asia and the US would test their fast-charging silicon-dominated battery cells under real conditions. As reported, StoreDot cells will be produced on these three continents in existing and future battery factories run by automotive partners. StoreDot itself is not planning its own production facilities. This approach guarantees customers “just-in-time delivery at their own locations.” The Israeli company announced in May that it plans to start production as early as 2024.
StoreDot does not say with whom. But it signed a partnership with Chinese cell manufacturer Eve Energy in 2021 – and even then, the goal was to start series production by 2024. Eve Energy has plants in China and is building more. For Europe, it announced a strategic cooperation with the prospective cell manufacturer Italvolt in January of this year to manufacture StoreDot’s XFC cells in Italy. It is not public which carmakers are currently testing the cells. However, it is likely that StoreDot’s investors Mercedes, VinFast, Volvo Cars, Polestar and Ola Electric are among the test customers.
StoreDot presented its strategic technology roadmap “100inX” in 2022, announcing the following three technology generations. In 2024, it will launch the “100in5” battery, a silicon-dominated XFC cell that can charge electricity for 100 miles (160 km) in five minutes. The “100in3” semi-solid-state cell is due by 2028, and the “100in2” “post-lithium architecture” is expected to be delivered to automakers in 2032.
Commenting on the freshly signed development deal, Javier Varela, COO and Deputy CEO of Volvo, said: “Volvo Cars is already a strategic investor in StoreDot, but this newly agreed collaboration takes our relationship a step further. We are delighted to be working together to develop advanced sample cells for our future EVs.” He said there was still a lot of work to be done, “but the opportunities to develop exciting new charging technologies together are huge.”
“This is a highly significant agreement for both StoreDot and Volvo Cars,” said StoreDot CEO Doron Myersdorf. “Our teams are now working together at pace, developing B-sample cells for Volvo Cars’ next generation fully electric architectures. There is a huge amount of work to do, optimizing all aspects of the system to meet Volvo’s exacting requirements.”
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