UK oil giant British Petroleum has plans to make charging an electric car as close as possible to refuelling a regular fossil-fuelled vehicle.

In a recent interview, BP’s head of technology David Eyton said that it wants to provide batteries for electric cars by 2021 that can charge to 100% within just five minutes.

BP, like fellow oil and petrol majors Shell and Caltex, know that in the very least, they must embrace the shift to electric mobility, and as such are making strategic investments to grab a piece of the growing charging infrastructure market.

In the electric vehicle playing field, BP has made two investments in the past 12 months or so with which it hopes to position itself: the purchase of UK charging infrastructure provider BP Chargemaster and an investment in an obscure but promising Israeli lithium-ion battery developer called StoreDot.

The buyout of BP Chargemaster, which currently manages 6,500 charging points across the island nation, is part of a larger goal to remain a main player on the global fuel provider (BP is installing 60kW fast-chargers in China, and 150kW chargers in Germany and the UK).

However, the funds injection into StoreDot has a related but different goal.

Speaking with Bloomberg New Energy Finance, Eyton says that BP’s focus for EVs is on how fast people can charge their cars.

UK oil giant British Petroleum has plans to make charging an electric car as close as possible to refuelling a regular fossil-fuelled vehicle.

In a recent interview, BP’s head of technology David Eyton said that it wants to provide batteries for electric cars by 2021 that can charge to 100% within just five minutes.

BP, like fellow oil and petrol majors Shell and Caltex, know that in the very least, they must embrace the shift to electric mobility, and as such are making strategic investments to grab a piece of the growing charging infrastructure market.

In the electric vehicle playing field, BP has made two investments in the past 12 months or so with which it hopes to position itself: the purchase of UK charging infrastructure provider BP Chargemaster and an investment in an obscure but promising Israeli lithium-ion battery developer called StoreDot.

The buyout of BP Chargemaster, which currently manages 6,500 charging points across the island nation, is part of a larger goal to remain a main player on the global fuel provider (BP is installing 60kW fast-chargers in China, and 150kW chargers in Germany and the UK).

However, the funds injection into StoreDot has a related but different goal.

Speaking with Bloomberg New Energy Finance, Eyton says that BP’s focus for EVs is on how fast people can charge their cars.

Per StoreDot’s own description:

Using a unique multifunction electrode (MFE), StoreDot’s FlashBattery combines two benefits of energy storage solutions, incorporating the high-power rapid-charging rate capability with the high-energy storage ability.

This optimized charging ability is achieved through an innovative electrode structure containing proprietary organic polymers with Metal Oxide compounds of the cathode that trigger the redox reactions.

This solution enables ions to flow from a modified anode to a modified cathode at a speed that is much faster than existing technologies. Together with a proprietary separator and electrolyte, this new architecture delivers a high current and low internal resistance, with enhanced energy density and a prolonged battery life.

What this means in essence is that should StoreDot’s vision come to fruition, BP could remain not only a mainstay in powering mobility, but also possibly become a battery provider to automakers.

When the investment into StoreDot was first announced in May 2018, BP chief Tufan Erginbiglic said in a statement that, “Ultra-fast charging is at the heart of BP’s electrification strategy. StoreDot’s technology shows real potential for car batteries that can charge in the same time it takes to fill a gas tank.”

“With our growing portfolio of charging infrastructure and technologies, we’re excited by our opportunities to develop truly innovative EV customer offers. We are committed to be the fuel provider of choice – no matter what car our customers drive.”

REFS

Published on thedriven.io and written by Bridie Schmidt

Oil major BP aims to fully charge electric cars in 5 minutes by 2021