Written by Nick Carey
LONDON (Reuters) – Volvo Cars will invest in British startup Breeze Battery Technologies to use its battery software to shorten charging times for next-generation electric vehicles by 30%, the companies said on Tuesday.
The automaker did not disclose the size of the investment by the Swedish company's corporate venture capital arm, the Volvo Cars Tech Fund.
Breathe's technology is expected to be installed in new Volvo EVs within the next two to three years.
“At the end of the day, this is all about easing pain for our customers,” Volvo Cars Tech Fund CEO Anne-Sophie Ekberg told Reuters.
Ekberg said the investment in Breathe “gives us the priorities and the insight, and also the good collaboration, so we can be first movers.”
A big challenge for automakers is that while fast chargers can power EVs faster, the software in those cars often limits power intake to prevent overheating and damage to the battery.
Ian Campbell, CEO of Breathe, said the company's algorithm-based charging software provides greater visibility into the health of individual cells within a battery pack, while maintaining safety. He said that EVs can be charged at full power without changing the battery.
“This is just the tip of the iceberg for understanding the huge changes coming to batteries as they become more software-defined,” Campbell said.
Shortening charging times is seen as the key to encouraging more customers to switch to electric vehicles.
Breathe's other software product, already available on 27 models of Oppo smartphones, helps increase battery durability and maintain peak level performance for longer periods of time.
Campbell said Breeze is working to make this product available for EV batteries because extending battery life and performance is a key priority for automakers.
Campbell said the startup works with a number of “top-tier, blue-chip brands like Volvo,” but declined to name names.
(Reporting by Nick Carey; Editing by Tomasz Janowski)
