One of the critiques leveled against electric vehicles is that many charging stations use electricity from non-renewable sources, but a company out of Israel has an intriguing solution for this: nuclear fusion.
The company, NT-Tao, is backed by Honda and is developing mini nuclear fusion generation facilities that it plans to use as charging stations for electric vehicles. The company says it will be ready to manufacture demonstration facilities by 2029 before commercializing them in the 2030s. In addition to backing from Honda, NT-Tao has received funding from the Israeli government and is working with Princeton University in the U.S. on the technology.
Nikkei Asia understands that the company’s generation facilities will each have an output of between 10,000 and 20,000 kilowatts and be sized to fit inside a cargo container. Nuclear fusion aims to reproduce the reactions that occur within the sun and some believe it could prove to be an important energy source in the future.
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Honda is believed to be interested in using the fusion power generation technology for EV charging stations. It is understood that NT-Tao’s facilities would make it possible to charge up to 1,000 vehicles at the same time but the sites won’t be cheap. In fact, NT-Tao chief executive Oded Gour-Lavie says the investment for a 20,000-kilowatt power generation facility will likely be between $70 million and $100 million.
NT-Tao’s system could also be used to power industrial and manufacturing facilities as well as small towns and off-grid locations. It refers to its power generator as the ‘Tao Machine’ and says it could connect to the main grid or be completely independent of it.
