Ultra-fast battery maker StoreDot hires auto industry head as chair

StoreDot, makers of ultra-fast, Tesla-like 4680 cells, today announced that it’s appointed global auto industry leader Carl-Peter Forster as chairman.

StoreDot’s new chair

Forster is currently a senior adviser and board member of several car companies. Past roles include board member of Volvo Cars, CEO of Tata Motors, and GM’s president of Europe. He also held a number of senior engineering roles at BMW.

In September, the Israel-based company announced that it had begun to ship production-ready EV battery cell samples that achieve a charge of 100 miles of range in just five minutes.

It’s currently working on mass production readiness of its “100in5” cells with its manufacturing partner, EVE Energy, in China, and aims to begin mass production of the battery cells in 2024.

Dr. Doron Myersdorf, StoreDot CEO, said:

Boosting our automotive bench strength is extremely important as we are aiming to build on our OEM strategic partnerships and encourage even more automotive manufacturers to independently assess our “100in5” XFC cells and incorporate them into their electric vehicles.

StoreDot has not disclosed who its OEM partners are, but its strategic investors include Polestar, Mercedes-Benz, VinFast, Samsung, and TDK.

In early September 2021, StoreDot announced that it produced the first 4680 cylindrical cell that it claims can charge in 10 minutes. In November 2021, the company claimed it had become the first to produce XFC cells for electric vehicles on a mass production line. And in December 2021, StoreDot announced new patented technology that uses a background repair mechanism to allow battery cells to regenerate while they are in use.

Electrek’s Take

We at Electrek get a lot of corporate appointment announcements in our inboxes. This one stood out because Forster is an auto industry heavy hitter joining a decade-young company that completed a Series D round of funding in 2022 that hasn’t yet moved into manufacturing.

So this is yet another indication that automakers are taking StoreDot seriously. This company isn’t just a flash in the pan. We’d love to see 100in5 come to market.

Photo: StoreDot

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