GM buys Israel-based software startup to detect early battery defects

DETROIT: General Motors says it had acquired Algolion Ltd, an Israel-based software startup that helps detect problems in batteries.

GM said Algolion's software will help the Detroit automaker bring to the market a "cost-effective" early hazard detection system at a quicker pace.

The deal, for an undisclosed sum, comes at a time when automakers are investing billions in manufacturing electric vehicles (EVs) and rushing to develop batteries - which represent up to 50% of an EV's price tag - that can power an automobile for a longer duration.

It also comes as safety authorities urge US automakers to improve battery standards after a series of events where vehicles have caught fire due to defective modules.

Algolion has developed a software that uses data from EV battery management systems to help identify anomalies in cell performance and provide early detection of battery hazards including "thermal runaway propagation events", GM said.

A thermal runaway is a rapid and unstoppable increase in temperature that leads to fires in EVs.

Algolion, founded in 2014, will join more than 850 employees at GM's Technical Centre in Herzliya, Israel.