An Israeli automotive startup was busy completing its first major contract with car giant Volvo when its team was caught up in the October 7 attack by the Hamas terror group, which killed 1,200 people in southern Israel.

Carrar has developed a new way of automatically cooling electric vehicle (EV) batteries, by more effectively dissipating the heat generated when being used or charged, or just idling in a hot parking lot. This prevents damage to the batteries that in some extreme circumstances could even cause the car to catch fire.

The Carrar facility is based near the city of Sderot, where gangs of terrorists who stormed across the border from Gaza rampaged through the streets for hours until they were brought down by Israeli security forces.

Most of the company’s 24-person team also lives in or near Sderot, not far from the Carrar base at Sapirim Industrial Park. And like most people, they found their lives – and work – put on hold as Israel reeled from the shock of the attack.

Hamas terrorists did in fact target the company’s facilities with rocket-propelled grenades, but the factory fortunately escaped without severe damage.

“We were all in shock during that first week,” CEO Avinoam Rubinstain tells NoCamels.

Keep reading at nocamels.com.

Carrar is a startup that created a complete thermal management solution for electric vehicles dissipating heat faster and more efficiently than ever before. Carrar CEO Avinoam Rubinstain is a Technion alumnus.