Electric scooter that can charge in just five minutes unveiled

Israeli firm StoreDot has revealed a battery for scooters than charges in five minutes in what could be a major boon for small deliveries

A demonstration of the scooter, which is made by Spanish firm Torrot, showed the battery charging all 168 lithium-ion to full in five minutes.

The key to the technology is the replacement of graphite according to StoreDot’s CEO. As an anode for lithium-ion batteries, graphite is a clear place to try and find superior alternatives, as the essential properties of the battery itself are difficult to innovate.

The company has gained fame in this field by also unveiling a mobile phone battery that could reach full charge in the same time. This appears to demonstrate that the company has viable solution to replacing graphite, which it say sit does through a variety of experimental materials, including tin, germanium and silicon in combination with organic compounds.

The ability to drive such quick recharge rates could be a major step to overcoming some of the weaknesses inherent in current-gen lithium-ion batteries, as there would be considerable cost associated with waiting for current batteries to recharge on delivery vehicles.

Deploying it on smaller vehicles in urban environments, such as in this test, is a more likely route to introducing battery technology into the supply chain at scale than on large, long distance trucking. This is especially so as batteries are the most expensive component of electric vehicles at this time, so smaller, lighter vehicles are less cost-prohibitive.

StoreDot is backed by a variety of big-name investors, including BP, Daimler, and Samsung, which gives the company strong routes to deploy its emerging technology.

However, the company still thinks that real-world usage for this technology is probably some time closer to the mid-2020s.

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