Flywheels

<h4><strong>Flywheel charging</strong></h4>

<p>Israeli start-up Chakratec has developed a unique kinetic flywheel battery system for use in EVs. According to the company, its kinetic storage technology <a href="https://www.chakratec.com/">EnerQube 3000</a> has “tens to hundreds of thousands” of charge and discharge cycles over a 20-year lifespan and can decrease the operational cost of EV charging stations by up to 70%.</p>

<p>Chakratec says its system can be used to enable high-power fast charging without the expense of having to modify existing infrastructure. Each battery can provide up to 3kWh, at a peak power of 6kW and a voltage of 380-750V DC. Multiple units can be stacked to produce a higher energy output, in configurations up to 3MWh.</p>

<p>The flywheel can charge from main supplies and discharge at any power level when required, with a round trip efficiency of 85%. Storage resources are automatically allocated by a smart management system, distributed between energy storage uses such as energy time shift, UPS and regulation.</p>

<p>The company closed its third financing round in May this year, during which it raised $4.4m from the iArgento Group and Singapore-based Goldbell to add to the $3.2m from prior financing rounds. The funds will be used to help pilot the EnerQube technology in Europe.</p>