Vietnamese electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer VinFast is looking at an extremely fast charging technology that would allow an EV battery to charge to 80% in four to five minutes.
Thuy Le, vice chairman of Vingroup – parent company of VinFast, revealed that its EV business unit’s collaboration with StoreDot of Israel, whose battery charging technology has been used on cell phones, drones and e-scooters. Instead of graphite, StoreDot uses nanoparticles in their batteries, which allows much faster charging speed compared with current technology.
“StoreDot is said to be a pioneer in the world's new energy sector,” Thuy said. “This means that VinFast may become one of the few electric car firms with the most advanced battery technology that has never been acquired by any famous electric car company in the world, not even Tesla.”
In recent months, VInFast has been proactively partnering with various battery manufacturers. One of them is ProLogium (PLG) of Taiwan, which is considered a leader in research and production of 100% solid-state batteries. PLG has been a pioneer in commercialising this technology since 2013 and became the world's first company that possessed a 100% solid-state battery experimentation facility for cars in 2017.
“With advantages of extremely rare possibilities for fire or explosion, wide range of operating temperatures and three times higher energy density compared with lithium-ion battery, the 100% solid-state battery is considered the technology of the future, a catalyst for the EV revolution,” said Thuy. “Therefore, this collaboration will give VinFast considerable advantages in the race for global EV market share.”
VinFast has also recently inked an MOU with Gotion High-Tech of China, well-known for LFP battery technology. LFP battery can be produced at a low cost and is suitable for mid-range electric cars and has potential to universalise green transportation in the world.
Meanwhile, Vingroup is carrying out R&D activities on its own in addition to seeking external resources. Research institutes with world's leading experts under Vingroup's business ecosystem together with its new subsidiary – VinES Energy Solutions JSC – play an essential role in this task.
“We also plan to establish battery production facilities in Europe and the US, as well as in Vietnam. This will be an important part of VinFast's journey to become a global smart electric vehicle company and efforts to accelerate the trend of green transportation in the world,” Thuy said.
