FAST COMPANY
Adele Peters
MARCH 20, 2024

Your next e-bike or robot vacuum might not have a lithium-ion battery. The ubiquitous batteries have problems—they’re slow to charge, wear out quickly, and sometimes lead to catastrophic fires. But new technology is making it easier for manufacturers to switch to better batteries.

A startup called Zapbatt designed a “battery operating system” that acts like a universal adapter for alternative batteries—beginning with a lithium titanium oxide battery from Toshiba that previously has only been used by the military and in industry (for example, in autonomous guided vehicles that are used to transport goods in warehouses).

FAST COMPANY
Adele Peters
February 29, 2024

When a fire started at an apartment building in Harlem last week, it spread so quickly that one resident jumped from the sixth floor to escape. Firefighters helped others climb through windows and down ropes. At least 17 people were injured, and a young journalist who lived in the building died. The cause: E-bike batteries that were charging in one apartment overheated and went up in flames.

It’s one of hundreds of fires started by e-bike batteries in the city since the use of electric bikes to make deliveries surged during the pandemic. Last year alone, the batteries started 267 fires, often in apartments where multiple batteries of questionable quality were charging simultaneously. But the city has now launched a pilot to help delivery workers avoid charging batteries at home. A group of 100 riders will soon begin testing the system.

BUSINESS WIRE
March 19, 2024

In a strategic collaboration with Toshiba, ZAPBATT launches its revolutionary Battery Operating System (bOS), initially focusing on Toshiba’s Battery SCiB™ Lithium Titanium Oxide (LTO) chemistry for integration across a variety of applications.

FORBES
Jamie Hailstone, Contributor
July 19, 2022

Electronics giant Toshiba has teamed up with the Californian firm ZapBatt to create more efficient and longer-lasting micro-mobility batteries.

FORBES
Ed Garsten, Senior Contributor
April 21, 2022

ZapBatt's Charlie Welch says the faster charging and longer life of his company's lithium-titanate batteries will actually translate into improved revenue for micromobility companies, predicting those two characteristics could reduce their operating costs by 45%.

BLOOMBERG LAW
Stephen Lee and Daniel Moore
June 20, 2023

The military’s grand vision of an all-electric fleet of tanks is being stymied by a battery sector that’s not even close to delivering the power the Army needs, according to two Pentagon officials.

TECHCRUNCH
Kirsten Korosec
July 25, 2022

ZapBatt has partnered with Toshiba to create a new battery option for micromobility, one that’s based on lithium titanium oxide, which the companies say make for a faster, smarter and efficient battery.

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Authors
June 25, 2023

EV MAGAZINE
Tom Swallow
August 11, 2022

Working with Toshiba, Zapbatt leverages more efficient batteries to mesh with its AI-driven tech. Lithium titanium oxide (LTO) batteries are used and are capable of being charged in 20 minutes, have reduced risk of thermal runaway and are built for longevity with a 20-year lifespan.

POWER MAGAZINE
Charlie Welch
February 9, 2022

Remember dial-up internet service? How would you like to go back to waiting for minutes on end to connect to the internet? Short answer: you wouldn’t. Once you taste the ever-increasing internet connection speeds, you never want to go back to slower connections. It’s the evolution of technology.

The same is about to happen for e-bikes. Lithium-titanate chemistry can provide 20-minute charge times rather than six to eight hours of its lithium-ion counterpart. Once e-bike riders experience the fast charging speeds of lithium-titanate batteries, they will not want to go back to waiting for one-third of the entire day to get their bikes fully powered again.