GM Acquires Algolion, Israeli Company To Reduce Fire Risk In Electric Vehicles

Chevrolet Bolt EV 2023. (Doc. Chevrolet)

JAKARTA - General Motors (GM) has acquired Algolion, an Israeli start-up company, with the aim of reducing the risk of fire associated with electric vehicle batteries.

Although details of the agreement between GM and Algolion have not been disclosed, GM announced that six Algolion employees, including its founders, will remain based in Israel and join the GM technical center team located in Israel, which consists of 850 employees.

Algolion has developed software that uses data from electric car battery management systems to detect anomalies in the performance of battery cells. The software is designed to identify the dangers associated with batteries, including thermal runaway propagation that can cause fires.

Gil Golan, President of Technology Acceleration and Commercialization (TAC) GM, explained that collaboration with Algolion will help GM develop software that prevents fires and improve the performance of GM electric vehicles for customer satisfaction.

The TAC GM Division was formed to seek innovation in electric vehicle battery technology and lead the acquisition process like this. In addition to looking for potential acquisition targets, TAC is also responsible for finding investment opportunities and partnerships to advance the development of GM electric battery technology.

GM said that Algolion's software was even able to detect minor changes that could affect battery health a few weeks earlier than other methods.

With Algolion's acquisition, GM can produce electric vehicles without worrying about an increase in fire risk. This is a response from previous experience when GM recalled Chevrolet Bolt EV due to 18 cases of fires occurring in various countries. GM has supplied replacement batteries to dealers to replace old batteries with new ones.

The impact of the case resulted in GM having to stop the production of Chevrolet Bolt EV assembled at the Orion assembly plant, Michigan, USA.