StoreDot Just Destroyed Tesla
Source: Medium, Will Lockett
Photo: Tesla Model 3 — Pexels
Move over 4680. There is a new battery king in town.
Tesla has been on top of the EV game for decades, and no one has been able to touch them. Now, the pioneering automotive company is delving into battery manufacturing with its revolutionary 4680 battery to keep and possibly extend its lead. However, they are struggling to manufacture these cells correctly and at scale while everyone else is catching up. One such company threatening Tesla’s prowess is StoreDot, who recently announced that their 100in5 battery is lighter, faster-charging, and even longer-lasting than anything Tesla has. So how have they managed this feat? And should Musk be anxious?
StoreDots’ 100in5 battery is insane. It can charge from 10% to 80% in only ten minutes, which means that an EV equipped with this battery would only take five minutes of charging to get 100 miles of range (hence the name). But it goes far beyond just high-speed charging, as this battery has energy densities of 330Wh/kg and 740Wh/l, which is one of the highest of any commercial EV battery out there.
They have achieved this incredible feat by using silicone-heavy anodes. Silicone can absorb a high number of lithium ions with very little resistance, meaning that batteries that use them can charge very quickly and be incredibly energy dense. The only issue is that silicone anodes expand when charged, which usually means they can only go through a minuscule number of charge cycles before they die. However, StoreDot seems to have fixed this issue and, in the process, made one of the most robust commercial batteries I have ever seen. In fact, the battery is so remarkably robust that its ultra-fast charging and high energy density capabilities seem trivial in comparison. Let me explain.
StoreDot recently announced their 100in5 batteries had undergone extreme bench testing. They were charged from 10% to 80% in ten minutes, then discharged back to 10% over an hour, over and over again, to see how the battery was affected. For some context, this is like supercharging an EV and then driving at 200+mph for an hour repeatedly. This process pushes the battery to the edge of its capabilities and significantly speeds up its degradation.
After 600 charge cycles, or the equivalent of driving 200,000 miles, the battery showed no sign of degradation. It was like new! Keep in mind that these were worst-case-scenario conditions that should deteriorate the battery far more quickly than what would typically occur in the real world. Yet after running the equivalent number of charge cycles to destroy a car, the battery was absolutely fine, as if nothing had happened.
StoreDot then pushed on to 1,000 charge cycles, or the equivalent of 330,000 miles driven, and only then did it show signs of degradation, losing only 10% of its battery capacity (33 miles less range per charge).
These figures are insanely impressive (and we will go into them in depth in a second), which means that at first glance, you might think this is just an experimental battery, but no! StoreDot has already sent pre-production versions of this battery to manufacturers for testing and has partnered with battery manufacturer EVE to mass-produce it by 2024. Moreover, EVE is known for affordable batteries, so there is a chance the 100in5 isn’t too expensive either.
So, how does Tesla’s own 4680 stack up against this upcoming battery?
Well, the current 4680s can charge from 10% to 80% in about 20–30 minutes. This is still one of the fastest-charging EVs out there, but it is miles off the 100in5! The energy density of the 4680 is also below average, at 265 Wh/kg and 730 Wh/L. This means a 100in5 battery pack will weigh about 56 kg less: a small but significant weight saving.
But what about longevity? Well, luckily for us, the current 4680 cells don’t have any internal differences from the old 2170. They were supposed to have loads of cutting-edge technology, like dry coating and silicone anodes, but development issues have gotten in the way. So it seems, for the foreseeable future, the 4680 will just be a large 2170 (read more here). However, we can use the mileage and battery degradation levels of older Teslas that use the 2170 battery cell to estimate the longevity of the current 4680 battery.
Tesla claims that Model S’s and Model X’s with the 2170 experience 10% battery degradation after 200,000 miles. Straight away, we can see that the 100in5 will be better off by the 200,000-mile mark. After all, one operating in the worst way possible managed to reach the 200,000-mile mark without even a shred of degradation! Meanwhile, the Teslas have been tested in the real world, where they are primarily slow-charged at home, which significantly extends their lifespan. Yet they have experienced a small but significant level of degradation.
However, there are Teslas out there that have been supercharged far more often. One of these (a Model X) has done 330,000 miles and has experienced 23% battery degradation. That is pretty much bang on 1,000 charge cycles, and it has experienced over twice the level of battery degradation as the 100in5 would have!
What makes all of this more impressive is that Tesla is known to have one of the lowest rates of battery degradation in the industry. Yet this plucky little battery startup has just absolutely trounced them!
This begs the question, is Musk in trouble? After all, it isn’t that long until their competitors can start installing this battery into their vehicles. Once they do, their charge times and longevity will make Teslas look old-school.
Well, possibly. If the 100in5 is affordable and can match the 4680’s dirt cheap price of around $91.35 per kWh, then it can utterly wipe the floor with Tesla. But StoreDot has stated that they can package their batteries however the manufacturer needs. They were actually one of the first manufacturers to produce a fast-charging 4680 format (46mm wide and 80mm tall cylinder) cell. That’s right, they beat Tesla at their own game! So it is possible that Tesla can simply use StoreDots’ 100in5 battery in 4680 format from the get-go.
But that is assuming it is cheap, which it probably won’t be. Instead, it seems plausible that it will be on par with current lithium-ion packs. If this is the case, then Teslas could soon become the cheapest EVs out there, but manufacturers who use the 100in5 could have far superior performance, charging, and longevity, which could be enough to justify a higher price.
If I was Elon, I would be terrified of StoreDot. They could end up dominating the EV world, rendering Tesla’s billions spent on 4680 cell development useless. Hurdles do stand in StoreDot’s way, so Tesla isn’t in significant trouble yet. But the writing is now on the wall that Tesla’s days at the top of the EV food chain might be numbered.