The large “IDTechEx Show!” in Berlin April 27-28 with over 2500 paying delegates once again invests in startups. Chief Executive Raghu Das says, “It is one way we are different from other events because they are run for cash. We believe in this industry and we invest in it, not directly in the company shares because that would compromise our independence but by letting qualifying startups exhibit free. We also help them in other ways and it is very gratifying to see wonderful results. For example, Witt of the UK exhibited their 6D motion harvester free of charge last year and now they have a working marine product and are going for crowdfunding with every prospect of success. We believe that device will appear in vehicles and many other places too. Next up this year are no less than seven startups in the EV/Energy Storage category, five in electric vehicle technology and two in energy storage breakthroughs that are likely to be useful in EVs but also elsewhere.”
For example, Jack Skopinski running Aeroservice in Poland says his invention the EV4 is a, “four wheel drive vehicle which can tilt just like a traditional bicycle”. It uses rivet assembly more usually encountered in aircraft. Bike2Apps of Denmark presents a working prototype of its all-electric chainless transmission for e-bikes. Navitas Solutions from the USA will debut a working prototype of its wireless battery management system. SIGRA Technologies of Germany reveals its breakthrough in embedded automotive electronics and software, breaking the cost barrier and encompassing communication modules, microcontroller and real time software framework. Zaptec of Norway present charging solutions for EVs that fill gaps in the market.
Dr Peter Harrop, Chairman of IDTechEx says, “Supercapacitors have been going through a difficult time lately with the largest market, hybrid buses in China that do not plug in, being collapsed by Chinese Government policy to withdraw support to focus on buses capable of long pure electric range. However, as the number of supercapacitor producers rises to nearly 100, many new applications are being found and amazing advances in supercapacitor performance are being made to meet them.
Progress is now rapid in batteries too and start up BroadBit of Finland demonstrates sodium metal batteries with twice the energy density of lithium-ion. It is a fundamentally different chemistry from any battery on the market today including sodium-ion and sodium sulfur batteries, they tell us. With many Masterclasses, conferences and exhibition stands on energy storage and electric vehicle topics right through to materials, “IDTechEx Show!” has uniquely comprehensive coverage making it the “must go to” event of the year.
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