Jul 24, 2020 (Baystreet.ca via COMTEX) — Electric Vehicles are hot again. Red hot. Since hitting $350.51 per share at the height of the COVID-19 panic in March, Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) stock rocketed 412% to an all-time high, a penny short of $1,795. Wall Street is abuzz now that Fisker is coming public after a merger backed by private equity giant Apollo Global Management (NYSE: APO) valuing Fisker at $2.9 billion. Electric-van maker Workhorse Group (NASDAQ: WKHS), which could have been snagged for just $1.32 per share in March, exploded to nearly $23 per share at the start of July as it separates itself competitors with its stake in EV startup Lordstown Motor and green lights from both the California Air Resources Board and the federal Environmental Protection Agency.
On the ancillary side of the market, KULR Technology Group (OTCQB: KULR) on Thursday said its products are going to be part of the brand new Drako GTE, one of the world’s fastest all-electric supercars. In August 2019, after more than six years of working in secrecy, privately held Drako Motors unveiled their first EV supersedan at the 2019 Pebble Beach Concours D’Elegance. The GTE uses a chassis structure from Fisker Karma, but everything else is essentially custom made.
Drako, named after co-founder Dean Drako, spared no details in building the GTE, which includes four motors (one for each wheel) and no differential, while delivering 1,200 horsepower, 6,500 foot-pounds of wheel torque and a top speed of 206 mph.
Space-Proven Battery Technology
The $1.3-million GTE is powered by a 450-volt Lithium-ion battery system. The system cranks out some serious juice with the ability to output 1,800 continuous and 2,200 peak amps. Drako is introducing new thermal management technology in addition to its current liquid-cooled technology to moderate heat generated by the Li-ion battery.
Just like management turned to carbon fiber for the GTE’s body panels and console skin, it looked to the lightweight and ultra-durable material again for the battery system. To make it happen, Drako partnered with KULR, the foremost expert in the industry. KULR built its brand focusing on aerospace and defense applications, but more recently has kicked off an initiative to commercialize its technology, an initiative that seems to be going extremely well in addition to ongoing legacy work.
KULR can lay claim to its carbon fiber technologies being tested in some of the harshest environments known to man. Trusted by NASA, their technologies have been aboard the Mercury Messenger, International Space Station and, upon launch this coming Thursday will be headed for Mars as a critical component of the Perseverance Rover that will scour a dried lakebed for signs of past life on the planet.
Keeping it KULR
KULR has developed a product portfolio that covers the complete gamut of Li-ion batteries, from testing to shipping to real-world applications, such as with the Drako GTE. These include battery thermal management with FTI materials, battery safety with passive propagation resistant (PPR) design, battery safety testing with internal short circuit (ISC) technology, and electrical motor and component cooling with FTI and phase change material (PCM) solutions.
That’s industry nomenclature and acronyms that translate in laymen’s terms to keeping Li-ion batteries cool and cells individually encapsulated to prevent the spread of fire and/or explosion, amongst other safety and practicality benefits.
The Drako GTE is all about performance, and it pushes its battery hard, designed to deliver maximum output for as long as possible without concern for protecting cell longevity or squeezing out a few more miles on a drive.
To that end, it’s not surprising that Drako and fellow co-founder Shiv Sikand sought out technology that was validated in space for what is arguably the most sophisticated electric supercar in the world. “Utilizing KULR’s battery cooling architecture developed for NASA’s most demanding applications enables us to safely push the limits of electric vehicle performance on both road and track,” said Sikand in Thursday’s news release.
Excited with the new partnership, KULR CEO Michael Mo commented, “[The] Drako GTE is the ideal EV platform to showcase the superior performance of KULR’s thermal solutions.”
KULR on a Roll
Mr. Mo subtly makes a great point about the additional opportunities the partnership with Drako could lead to. The company’s first disclosed penetration of the EV market is with an elite vehicle believed to have the highest continuous output EV battery in production today. Li-ion battery heat is a nagging problem for EV makers and next-generation technology like that of KULR could easily be seen as a broad stroke solution.
Furthermore, KULR has potential for both vertical and horizontal growth in many industries where Li-ion batteries are used, such as electronics, energy storage, cloud computing and 5G infrastructure where demand is increasing for lighter, cooler, safer and longer-lasting battery products. The commercialization efforts are really starting to take root for KULR in these new markets. A Li-ion shipping partnership was forged with Americase, Volta Energy Products penned a deal to use KULR’s PPR technology, a Tier-1 Asian auto maker is using KULR’s ISC battery safety and testing device, and – in what could be a really interesting business development – KULR is collaborating with a Tier-1 power tool maker on extending longevity in a new line of brushless DC motor products.
The tightly held company had its best volume day of the year on Thursday, closing up 12.8% at $1.59. Shares appear to have found support on the 50-day moving average, with Thursday’s advance started by a gap over the 200-day moving average, which technical traders generally regard as a bullish signal for things to come.
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