Fast charging company, StoreDot, has announced the appointment of London-based David Gilmour as executive chairman.
Gilmour is the former VP of Business Development at bp and previous global head of bp Ventures.
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He has served on StoreDot’s board since 2018. He is replaced as bp’s representative on the board by Jon Salkeld, head of Scientific Innovations, Strategic University & External Partnerships at bp. Both appointments are effective immediately.
Gilmour took on responsibility for bp’s venturing activities at the end of 2016, following a seven-year stint running its aviation fuel supply business, Air bp. He has been instrumental in building up a network of technology businesses to support bp’s transition to a fully-integrated energy company, especially in the mobility area.
Working alongside StoreDot’s executive team, he will play a central role in aligning StoreDot’s commercialisation strategy with the wider EV ecosystem as the company moves closer to bringing its XFC five-minute charge batteries to market.
“The rapid rise in EV sales during what was a very challenging 2020 provided yet another signal of consumers’ growing confidence – and indeed excitement – around electric mobility,” said Gilmour.
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By GlobalData“However, there are still major barriers to overcome before our vision of a fully-electric future can be realised, among them the need to bring EV charging times in line with refuelling times for conventional combustion engine vehicles.
“StoreDot is on the cusp of solving that challenge with its five-minute charging technology, which promises to remove a significant roadblock to mainstream EV adoption – range and charging anxiety. The launch in January of engineering samples of its first-generation XFC batteries provided a major proof point for the technology, demonstrating it is both commercially viable and scalable on conventional production lines.
“Add to that the company’s highly-skilled team, labs and its range of patented technology and it is clear StoreDot is well positioned to have a significant impact on the future of electric mobility and the clean environment.”
StoreDot’s FlashBattery XFC technology uses the chemistry of conventional lithium-ion batteries, taking EV charging times from hours to minutes, maintains the company.
This is achieved by replacing graphite in the cell’s anode with metalloid nano-particles to overcome major issues in safety, battery cycle life and swelling during the charging process.
In 2019, StoreDot, in partnership with bp, achieved a first when it demonstrated the first full live charge of a two-wheeled EV in five minutes. In January, 2021, it reached another major milestone when it launched engineering samples of its first-generation battery technology, proving, for the first time, the commercial viability of its XFC technology in a small form factor.
It is now planning to release a cell prototype of its second-generation EV battery, which is based on a silicon-dominant anode, later this year.
