Automotive Ventures is excited to share our investment in EVident Battery’s $3.2m seed round, alongside Ibex investors, Nationwide Ventures and others. More on the round here.
EVident Battery offers a comprehensive and non-intrusive approach to addressing structural damage and integration issues in EV batteries caused by mechanical, thermal, electrical, chemical, and environmental stresses, alongside manufacturing quality issues. Their solution allows these issues to be identified early, preventing unnecessary battery replacement and reducing associated expenses.
Using vibration analysis, machine learning algorithms, and robotic automation, their proprietary hardware-software solution evaluates all critical external and internal components, as well as issues related to the entire battery pack integration. EVident’s technology streamlines the process, making inspections comprehensive, cost-effective, and accessible.
EVident’s technology can be applied to all EVs and Hybrid EVs.
They assess the battery pack condition through correlation between data signatures and known failure modes. This assessment is enhanced by a sophisticated machine-learning algorithm. As a result, EVident delivers a detailed report on the battery’s health, an estimated remaining lifespan, and its financial valuation.
Exceptional Leadership
One of the key factors influencing our investment decision is Evident Battery’s strong leadership team.
Dr. Jinqiang Ning, Founder & CEO: is responsible for the overall strategic direction, the management of the venture, and the technology validation. He is a former lead reliability engineer at Tesla and was responsible for the reliability of all battery packs for all vehicle models. He has an engineering PhD from Georgia Institute of Technology, where he published more than 30 journal publications with 1200+ citations in manufacturing research. He is also a technical reviewer and editor for 60+ international journals. Before MBA at Yale School of Management (SOM), he also worked at Apple and Schlumberger (oil & gas field).
Chenwei Wu, Lead Machine Learning Scientist: is responsible for software development focused on machine learning. He is an EECS PhD candidate at the University of Michigan, focusing on multimodal self-supervised learning. He obtained his M.S. in Data Science from Harvard University. He is experienced in developing efficient and reliable AI/ML-driven computational methods to tackle real-world problems, with publication records in Nature, etc. He also worked at Credit Suisse as an analyst.
EVident Battery has also attracted a number of notable advisors to augment its full-time team.
What Problem Is EVident Battery Solving?
Electric vehicle (EV) battery packs are costly components, comprising 30% to 40% of an electric vehicle’s (EV’s) total value. Recalls due to manufacturing quality issues or integration failures, such as sealing and part-to-part integrity, can be costly for manufacturers.
Over a short history of selling EVs, manufacturers have been plagued by costly battery-related defects.
Furthermore, overuse of EV battery packs can induce a range of stresses that may lead to performance issues and failures.
The battery pack contains a greater number of components compared to an internal combustion engine (ICE), due to the presence of hundreds to thousands of battery cells housed within its enclosure. Every component within the battery pack is exposed to mechanical vibrations and thermal stress as a result of the daily operations of the electric vehicle (EV), which encompasses driving and charging.
Strong Early Traction
EVident Battery has exhibited impressive initial traction and has a strong and growing pipeline of potential customers. This early validation underscores the market demand for their offering and validates our confidence in the sizing of this market.
Market Potential
The market opportunity for EVident Battery is significant and poised for dramatic growth. According to Bloomberg, EV sales are projected to reach 33 million units globally by 2028, a substantial leap from 3 million in 2020.
At the same time, reliability and performance of battery packs are critical issues for manufacturers, service providers, and consumers. Battery pack failures can lead to major safety risks and financial loss, causing fires, emitting toxic gasses, and creating electrical hazards.
A survey of over 15,000 EV owners shows a 1.5% battery pack replacement rate, a percentage that is expected to increase as EVs age. Replacing a battery pack averages a cost of $16,000. This could equate to an aggregate cost of $40.5 billion in battery replacements by 2028.
Network Effects
As the company scales, it will benefit from network effects from its proprietary dataset: as EVident Battery amasses an increasingly large data set from the inspection service offering, it hopes to monetize this data separately. Example data monetization use cases are for design and reliability improvement for manufacturers or claims assessment and premium adjustments for insurers.
Alignment with Our Investment Thesis
The EVident Battery investment aligns with the Automotive Ventures Mobility Fund thesis and our strategic focus areas. The thesis of the fund is to invest in the next wave of innovation in transportation technology. EVident Battery is focused on solving a real, validated need at the intersection of AI, Analytics and the EV battery evolution. EVident Battery's mission, vision, and values resonate with those of the fund.
This investment is positioned to take dominant market share, has strong potential for eventual exit, and to drive outsized returns for our investors.
We’re thrilled to be part of EVident Battery's journey and are confident that our investment and contribution to the company will not only yield significant returns but also contribute to the company's emergence as the leader in the broader mobility industry. We look forward to collaborating closely with the EVident Battery team and playing a proactive role along their path to success.
