Volvo Makes Investments in Israel-Based Maker of Fast-Charging Battery Tech
In recent news, Volvo, the well-known Swedish vehicle maker has made a sizable strategic investment in a company, StoreDot, which is based in the State of Israel. The firm develops extreme fast-charging battery technology, also known as XFC, to cater to electric vehicles (EV). This was revealed through a joint statement made by the two companies. Up until now, both parties have chosen not to disclose the amount. However, this deal came along in less than a month after a ride-hailing service, Ola Electric, decided to place its funds in the Israeli company. The Indian electric scooter maker made an investment of no less than several million dollars in StoreDot, at the time of the Israeli company’s Series D investment round.
It was estimated that the total funding provided to the firm had been around $80 million. Meanwhile, this is not a first for StoreDot. It has been working with several strategic investors for a while now, such as BP Ventures. This is the venture arm of BP Plc, a multinational gas and oil company based in Britain. Moreover, Daimler AG has also invested in the Israeli company, which makes Mercedes Benz cars. Amongst the investors is also TDK, a Japanese electronic multinational, and Samsung Ventures from South Korea. Through the inflow of these funds, StoreDot aims to bring about progress in its technologies.
The Series D round was revealed by the maker of fast-charging battery tech in the month of January. It had been led by VinFast, a Vietnamese electric car manufacturer. It is a unit of the VinGroup, a conglomerate based in Vietnam. After the round was complete, StoreDot revealed that it will be using the funding to allocate a certain percentage of the budget for research and development of its tech. In addition, it hopes to achieve mass production of its anode XFC lithium-ion cells, which are silicon-dominant. According to the company, these cells will have the ability to deliver 100 miles of driving range in around five minutes of charging. This will be made possible by the year 2024.
The Volvo investment went through the Volvo Cars Tech Fund, which is the venture capital arm of the carmaker. In the previous year, Volvo made an announcement saying that it is planning to transform into a fully electric vehicle firm by the year 2030. Moreover, it is aiming to become a leader in the market for electric vehicles. Alexander Petrofski, the chairman of the Volvo Cars Tech Fund, released a statement saying that Volvo is hoping to become one of the fastest transformers in the industry.
He talked about how the Tech Fund enables the establishment of meaningful partnerships with future leaders in the technology sector. He went on to talk about how the company’s investment in StoreDot is just right for the current vision of Volvo. In his words, the Israeli firm’s interests in electrification and creating carbon-free mobility match those of the Swedish car maker. The chairman expressed excitement at the collaboration, saying that he hoped that this groundbreaking technology could be brought to the market.
