General Motors said on Friday it had acquired Algolion, an Israeli software startup that can detect potential hazards in batteries, financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. The automaker did say that six of Algolion’s employees, including the company’s founder, will remain in Israel and join the more than 850 employees at GM’s Technical Center in Herzliya, Israel.
The software developed by Algolion will be especially important for any automaker trying to scale up electric vehicle manufacturing. Founded by Niles Fleischer and Alex Nimberger, the nine-year-old startup develops software that uses data streams from electric vehicle battery management systems to help identify anomalies in battery performance. The software can help detect battery hazards, including thermal runaway events, which means a battery catches fire and spreads almost uncontrollably.
“Algolion has developed cutting-edge battery analysis and prediction software that will help GM deliver superior performance electric vehicles to our customers,” TAC vice president Gil Golan said in a statement.
GM says the software can spot even small changes that could affect a battery’s health weeks earlier than other methods. That’s especially valuable to GM because it has first-hand experience with battery hazards.
The automaker has twice recalled thousands of Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicles due to battery fire risks. GM eventually halted vehicle production at its Orion, Michigan, assembly plant.
GM has reported more than 18 Bolt fires worldwide, which the automaker and its battery supplier LG Chem attribute to two manufacturing defects: torn anode sheets and folded separators. While LG covered the $2 billion cost of the recall, GM’s bottom line and reputation still took a hit.
GM sent replacement battery modules to dealers, and owners of the recalled Chevrolet Bolt can replace the old module with a new one. Production was suspended for several months due to supply chain issues. GM will resume production in April 2022.
