Enevate Corp.’s new corporate strategy has caught the attention of another foreign investor.
Bangkok-based energy giant Bangchak Corporation Public Co. is the latest backer of the Irvine-based company, which is developing technology to re-charge batteries for electric vehicles in a matter of minutes.
Details of the Bangchak deal were undisclosed, but the investor is testing the technology for its more than 1,000 fueling stations across Thailand.
“Fast-charging is a strategic differentiator for oil and gas companies that have these vast networks,” Enevate Chief Executive Robert Rango told the Business Journal.
Its batteries are billed to provide more than 80% of a full charge in five minutes. That compares to more than an hour under current standards.
“We see a day in the not-too-distant future when EV drivers will be able to pull up to drive-thru charging stations that will look much like today’s gas stations, charge up and be back on the road in five minutes,” said Rango, a former executive at Broadcom who joined Enevate about three years ago, around the time the company’s operations became focused on electric vehicle batteries.
Bangchak is the second notable investment for Enevate after last October’s news of a consortium of firms including LG Chem, a high-volume battery manufacturer in South Korea, provided a round of funding.
Rango said Enevate is targeting 20 of the world’s largest battery makers and automakers to license the technology.
Improving lithium-ion battery technology is considered a “Holy Grail” for automakers because it affects so many of an electric vehicle’s characteristics, including cost, aerodynamics, range, assembly and production.
Enevate says its technology stands out from the competition: able to operate in low temperatures and frigid climates; quick charges without damage to the cell; and eliminating “lithium plating”—metallic layers that form around the anode of batteries during charging, which cause them to malfunction and fail.
“Bangchak’s investment in Enevate reflects our mission to seed innovative technologies and support continuous development of solutions in pursuit of environmental stewardship and sustainability in the energy business,” Bangchak Chief Executive Chaiwat Kovavisarach said in the funding announcement.
The company reported revenue last year eclipsing $6 billion.
The investment comes amid an expected jump in electric vehicle sales over the next decade, primarily led by China’s mandate to produce more EVs in the world’s most populous country and the Paris Agreement, requiring United Nations members to cut greenhouse and CO2 emissions.
President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from the agreement last year.
Europe’s cadre of automakers are pouring big money and resources into new EV models designed by the likes of Jaguar, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen and Audi as Tesla’s work has driven the U.S. market.
The mix is projected to boost electric vehicle sales to over 1.6 million this year, up from a few hundred thousand in 2014, according to a Bloomberg analysis. The International Energy Agency is bullish, projecting EV ownership will top 125 million by 2030, driven by public policy.
Enevate has raised nearly $111 million to date. Other reported backers include Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi (Alliance Ventures), Samsung, Mission Ventures, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Tsing Capital, Infinite Potential Technologies, Presidio Ventures, Lenovo and CEC Capital.
The funding has helped boost employment at its UCI Research Park headquarters to about 60, a mix of primarily chemists, engineers and physicists.
Enevate has gone through several changes since founder Benjamin Park established Carbon Micro Battery in 2005 as a doctoral student at University of California-Irvine.
The startup developed tiny carbon batteries for wireless sensors, on-chip applications and other small devices that didn’t require larger batteries.
A seed round provided two years of funding as he transitioned to a UCI researcher on the product.
In 2010, the company changed its name to Enevate after switching its focus to silicon-based lithium-ion batteries used by cellphones, a key transition as manufacturers demanded larger, higher capacity batteries with more energy density for consumer electronics.
In 2016, it pivoted from targeting smartphone makers to EV battery and auto manufacturers.