Volvo Cars Partners With and Invests in Breathe for Next Generation Fast Charging

Volvo Cars has partnered with Breathe Battery Technologies (Breathe), becoming the first car company to access the latest version of its patented, algorithm-enabled charging software for our new generation of fully electric cars.

By integrating Breathe’s software into Volvo Cars‘ in-house developed battery management platform to optimize and improve the performance of Volvo Cars’ charging technology, the company can provide Volvo customers with even faster charging times and an enhanced overall driving and charging experience.

Volvo Cars will implement the new technology in our latest generation of fully electric cars. The company expects it to reduce the time it takes to charge your fully electric Volvo from 10 to 80 per cent charging state by as much as 30 per cent while maintaining the same energy density and range. Even better, the charging time improvements will last across the complete battery life cycle without impacting its health status.

The collaboration with Breathe results from a sourcing agreement for its flagship product, Breathe Charge, and represents the latest investment by the Volvo Cars Tech Fund, the company’s corporate venture capital arm. This reflects Volvo’s ambition to lead the development of premium electric cars and become fully electric car makers by 2030.

Sharing Volvo Cars‘ passion for electric mobility and delightful driver experiences, Breathe is a London-based start-up that develops battery management software to contribute to faster, better and more sustainable electrification.

Software-Defined Batteries

Unlike traditional stepped charging, which relies on pre-determined rules, Breathe’s software uses adaptive charging to dynamically control the battery in real-time, resulting in significantly shorter charging times.

Using algorithms, the software manages the charging process according to the battery’s health to deliver the best driver experience while avoiding the risk of lithium plating, which can harm the battery’s performance and lifespan.

Volvo Cars‘ investment in Breathe helps position the company for an all-electric future. Still, it also fits Volvo Cars’ ambitions of reaching zero greenhouse gas emissions and becoming a circular business by 2040. While reducing charging times for the company’s cars, the technology achieves this without the need to change battery pack design or mine extra materials, without additional environmental impacts.

Scaling will also be easy since it is fully compatible with the hardware used in Volvo Cars’ new generation of fully electric cars. Volvo Cars expects the company’s electric sales to increase significantly in the coming years.

The Volvo Cars Tech Fund was established in 2018 to invest in companies and technology areas that transform the automotive industry, such as electrification, AI, autonomous driving, sustainability, and digital commerce. The Tech Fund makes strategic investments to help start-ups thrive and jointly accelerate the transformation of the global mobility industry.

* Different battery packs will result in varying charging times. Testing indicated charge time improvements ranging from 15-30%.