An eminent group of judges gathers once a year to choose the 100 most disruptive businesses in the world. This is disruptive in the sense of greatest potential to influence, change, or create new global markets. The judges come from leading brands and tech accelerators. When we discovered a battery company called StoreDot held top position on the list we had to know more. We learned it was making capacitor batteries apparently superior to lithium. We wondered what would happen if StoreDot disrupted lithium successfully
Has StoreDot Disrupted Lithium Batteries Really?
The company claims its capacitor derived derivatives have already done that. It says its ‘high density energy sponge’ soaks up a recharge in just 5 seconds, and lasts a day. The design works in tablets, phones, wearables, and laptops. Its challenge is presumably how to hack lithium’s customers. There might be modifications needed as in the case of electric cars.
StoreDot is also developing an electric car solution it says will fully charge in 5 minutes. That energy will be good for a 300-mile journey. That would be 60 miles per every minute on charge. It claims its supercapacitor based products are less flammable than lithium alternatives too. There must be substance in these claims. Or else the Disrupt 100 judges would hardly have rated it the most potentially disruptive company in the world.
This is Not a Commercial, or a Recommendation, But…
We are left wondering what would happen if StoreDot disrupted lithium markets globally. Many jobs would be under threat. However if this put paid to cobalt mining that would be a good thing. Especially for child laborers who hand-dig tunnels hundreds of feet underground in the Congo to extract the element in chemically-combined form.
StoreDot says it uses ‘an innovative electrode structure, containing proprietary organic polymers with metal oxide compounds of the cathode that trigger the redox reactions’. We need to know more about this technology before we can comment further on this matter.
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Preview Image: Electric Vehicle Pack Image StoreDot
