Charging speed remains a hurdle to overcome when it comes to bringing electric vehicles (EVs) to the mass market. But fast charging using conventional electrochemistry is unpredictable and often results in cell damage. Next-generation technologies such as solid-state electrolytes have reportedly repeatedly failed to meet deployment targets.

Gaussion’s solution is designed to “radically improve” battery performance by using an external magnetic field during charge and discharge cycles to enable fast charging by directing ions within existing battery cells. The magnetic field also reduces cell degradation, thus extending battery life. This approach aims to complement existing battery technologies rather than replace them.

The Series A funding round was supported by existing investors BGF and UCL Technology Fund, managed by AlbionVC in partnership with UCL Business. The funds will enable Gaussion’s market entry and potentially the licensing of its technology for other applications.

In a statement, Alexei Andreev, co-founder and managing director of Autotech Ventures, said: “(Gaussion) leverages the advances of current battery cell giants and applies an external magnetic field to improve the performance of established battery technologies without changing their core components. We see tremendous opportunities across a wide range of markets.”

With a global portfolio of patents and patent applications, Gaussion can offer a viable and scalable solution to meet the growing demand for more efficient and powerful energy storage systems.

The company’s solution could be used in transportation electrification, construction equipment, mining, residential energy storage and utility-scale energy storage for load and phase balancing.

“We see in many applications that rapid electrification efforts are delayed or blocked due to the cost of increasing the battery power limit,” said Tom Heenan, CEO and co-founder of Gaussion. “Magnetic enhancement, on the other hand, could lead to incremental improvements across all chemistries, formats and applications, enabling electrification cost-effectively and without compromising on cost or performance.”

The current fundraising follows a £2.85 million seed fundraising led by BGF and UCL Technology Fund (UCLTF) in 2022.