TESVOLT AG
TESVOLT GmbH: Tesvolt acquires a stake in Stercom – a technology leader for inductive charging in e-mobility

Press Release

Tesvolt acquires a stake in Stercom – a technology leader for inductive charging in e-mobility

– Agreement about minority stake with an option for a further increase signed

– Partnership is to expedite the inductive charging of e-cars

– Powerful 44 kW charging station planned as a first joint product

– Contactless charging as a key to an accelerated acceptance of e-mobility

Wittenberg, München, 7 July 2021 -Tesvolt GmbH, one of the worldwide technology leaders for commercial and industrial applications in the field of energy storage, has acquired a significant minority stake in Stercom Power Solutions GmbH (Stercom). Moreover, the possibility of a further increase of the shareholding was agreed upon.

Stercom is one of the technology leaders in the field of charging in electromobility. With the shareholding and future joint projects, Tesvolt and Stercom intend to press ahead with the contactless charging of e-cars, buses and trucks. Inductive charging makes electric driving even more comfortable, efficient and affordable, and is considered to be one of the key technologies for the comprehensive expansion of e-mobility. Tesvolt and Stercom have agreed to develop a powerful 44 kW charging station as their first joint product in the coming years. In this way, Tesvolt strives to enter a new, attractive business line that supplements the existing product range in the field of electric storage systems by leveraging synergy effects.

With Tesvolt and Stercom two technology leaders in the fields of electric charging and electric storage systems pool their competencies. The two companies have already very successfully implemented joint projects during the past years. Stercom has a leading position in the field of induction charging, i.e. the contactless charging of vehicle batteries via a magnetic coil located in the ground. Even during short non-driving times in parking lots, vehicles can be charged with high efficiency. Car manufacturers like Audi or BMW already install the necessary charging coils in their new car models. The next steps for a comprehensive market maturity of the technology will include the further development of safety and other standards. Stercom has a market-ready silicon carbide technology which permits a highly efficient energy transmission with an efficiency of 95 percent. The distance between the transmitting and receiving coils can be up to 20 cm, which is an important prerequisite to a market launch and differentiates the Stercom technology from its competitors.

The Stercom management can draw on many years of industry experience and an extensive network in the automobile industry, which were acquired through management positions at Continental and Knorr, amongst others. With a rapidly growing team of specialists, Stercom develops technological key systems for the electromobility of the future and has today already taken over the technological leadership. The first products from Stercom for inductive charging are already used in selected special vehicles all over the world. The high technological competence of Stercom is underpinned by a cooperation, for instance, with the Leibnitz Institute and leading industrial companies including at the “Einstein Elevator”.

Tesvolt has as a system specialist for commercial energy storage systems the corresponding skills to combine individual components into a convincing overall solution. Moreover, Tesvolt can already build on worldwide sales success and a corresponding distribution network. With the combination of the system, technology and marketing competency of the two companies, solutions for electromobility are to developed and successfully marketed in the future. In a first step, the markets which have already today a high affinity to electromobility will be targeted. These include Germany and Scandinavia, amongst others.

Induction charging offers new technological possibilities: vehicle batteries can manage with lower capacities since recharging at short intervals is also possible when driving. This adds up to cost and weight advantages in electromobility.

Simon Schandert, Founder and CTO of Tesvolt: “We are excited about the shareholding in Stercom as a technology leader for inductive charging. Our companies know each other well; we had already successful co-operations in the past. This helps us to advance existing developments and new technological developments in the short term. Our joint vision is to launch highly efficient charging systems and permit inductive supercharging in the medium term. This opens up considerable incremental potentials for Tesvolt in the coming decades.”

Robert Sterff, Founder and Managing Director of Stercom, adds: “In the cooperation with Tesvolt, now documented on the shareholding level, we can fully focus on our technological competency. My colleagues and I are looking forward to the long-term cooperation and the possibility to boost electromobility out of a leading technological position. The pooling of the competencies of our two companies will create considerable synergies in development and marketing. Consequently, I see major potentials for current and future common products on the development of which we now work together.”

The two parties agreed not to disclose the size of the stake and the price.

About Tesvolt

Tesvolt has specialised in battery storage systems for commercial and industrial applications. The innovative company produces intelligent lithium-ion storage systems with prismatic battery cells from Samsung SDI on a nickel manganese cobalt oxides basis. Tesvolt produces its commercial storage solutions in series in Europe’s first gigafactory for commercial battery storage systems in Wittenberg and supplies them throughout the world. More than 2,200 storage projects have already been implemented by Tesvolt; the company employs almost 100 people. The young company has already received several awards, including the German Founder Award in the category “Rising Stars”, the innovation award “TOP 100” and the international award of the Alliance for Rural Electrification (ARE).

www.tesvolt.com

About Stercom

Stercom Power Solutions is a market-leading innovator in the field of inductive and tethered charging and power electronics. The company was established in 2014 in the south of Munich and its young team brings together outstanding expertise on all aspects covering the efficiency and safety of systems with high voltages and currents. Stercom is also a specialist in supercap storage systems that are used around the world for peak shaving in catapult launch roller coasters. The think tank developed one of the most powerful supercap storage systems in the world for the research project “Einstein Elevator” at the Leibniz University Hanover, which is used in the simulation of weightlessness.

https://stercom.de

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Mail: Tesvolt@edicto.de