Smart charger device to increase smartphones’ battery lifetime, prevent fire accidents, and provide cross-brand flexibility

Project Information

Optium

Grant agreement ID: 866929

DOI

10.3030/866929

Project closed

EC signature date 8 April 2019

Start date 1 May 2019

End date 31 October 2019

Funded under

• INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Innovation In SMEs

Total cost

€ 71 429,00

EU contribution

€ 50 000,00

Coordinated by

CHARGE GUARD AS
Norway

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - Optium (Smart charger device to increase smartphones’ battery lifetime, prevent fire accidents, and provide cross-brand flexibility)

Reporting period: 2019-05-01 to 2019-10-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

This project satisfies the high, unmet demand of consumers for longer smartphone battery life. Longer battery life is the most demanded feature by smartphone users. Current lithium-based batteries fail to keep up with smartphone technological improvements. As a result, batteries do not last long during the day. Moreover, users recharge their smartphones improperly accelerating battery deterioration. Consequently, batteries get drained quickly and users must replace their mobile phone or replace old batteries with poor low-quality new ones.
The Optium project will achieve what has not been possible previously – to provide an affordable smartphone charger able to increase battery lifespan by 3 times, eliminate risk of battery overheating and fire, plus provide a user-friendly brand independent charging solution. Optium will address e-waste environmental issue in two ways: (1) By significantly increasing battery total lifetime by 3X - we expect that Optium users will keep their smartphones on average 40% longer and reduce e-waste per capita accordingly; (2) Opium graphics interface and dynamic LED indicator is a powerful visual tool to explain about lithium battery properties and about optimal usage. As a result, Optium will be an educational tool and will increase user awareness on the best way to increase the lifespan of their smartphones and reduce e-waste.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

We have taken this opportunity to study in detail the market for Optium within the SME Instrument Phase 1, and see if Optium technology can benefit additional groups of individuals and customers. During this analysis, we have conducted interviews with industry experts, consumers and other relevant stakeholders, while researching on competitors and market trends. Finally, we have quantified the market size of each new application by analyzing the incidence and prevalence in the main European countries. We can now confirm that Optium project is technically, financially and commercially feasible. We have built a complete roadmap, sizing the team and analyzing the budget required to bring this innovative technology to the market to improve the quality of life of many people.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The overall conclusion of the Phase 1 study has been that the Optium technology has great potential and interest beyond smartphone accessory market and can be installed directly into walls in offices, bedrooms, caravans etc. In fact, the feasibility study has helped us to identify a new market application for Optium, which result in a high level of interest among hotels, electrical and construction companies. Developing a product for this new potential market will have a great economic impact on our company and a positive impact on the e-waste reduction in Europe. In addition, having a product portfolio for several applications will minimize product launch risks and allow us to offer a complete solution to a wider spectrum of users. The expected results are:
- Increase smartphone total battery lifespan by up 200- 300%. Optium interacts and overrides standard battery charging schemes implemented by default in smartphones/tablets;
- Increase usability: Optium can easily work with any smartphone device and tablet;
- Eliminate fire threat: Optium is constantly monitoring current, voltage and temperature between the charger and the device;
- Reduce e-wasted on Optium monitored smartphones. By significantly increasing battery total lifetime by 3X - we expect that Optium users will keep their smartphones on average 40% longer and reduce e-waste per capita accordingly;
- Our projection clearly demonstrates the commercial potential of our solution, which recoups the estimated €3,000,000 (the est. EIC Accelerator funding + own contribution) investment by 2024. By 2025, we foresee to earn more than €18m profit yearly. Our forecast estimates cumulative profits of €23m by 2025 with a return on investment of 669%;
- We estimate that the sales of the Optium project will allow us to increase our workforce up to 40 full time employees by year 4 post-project. These will mainly be related to high value jobs within engineering, business development, sales and marketing, as well as support and after-sales staff;
- We will install Optium patented technology not only on smartphone chargers, but also on walls on caravans, bedrooms, hotel rooms, and houses. This will allow us to target more customer segments and increase sales and socio-economic impact.

Picture of the smartphone App beta version

Picture of the prototype

3D rendering of future version