An electric car battery that charges in 10 minutes?

Apparently so folks – thats right!

And there was little ole me, thinking that this was the stuff of dreams, a myth, something that was at least a couple of years away.

But obviously, I along with the rest of the ‘naysayers’ may have been proven wrong!!! It just goes to show how quick and fast this industry sector is moving!

Earlier this year, I was at the Ideal Homes show and spoke to budding motor enthusiast & famous youtuber Bob Flavin. One of the topics we touched on was the wider issues surrounding electric cars & their batteries. (You can catch my video interview & audio podcast on my page soon). 

In the Indo Shortly afterwards, an article was published about the EV battery and apparently all my “worries about charging electric cars could become a thing of the past, as a team of engineers say they have developed a battery that can recharge in 10 minutes,” read the headline! You have my attention!

It went onto state that “Fast-charging of electric vehicles is seen as key to their take-up, so motorists can stop at a service station and fully charge their car in the time it takes to get a coffee and use the toilet – taking no longer than a conventional break.”

It will tackle “range anxiety”, in which drivers fear running out of juice before they reach their destination on a long journey.

Here’s where it gets technical…

Rapid charging of lithium-ion batteries can degrade the batteries, researchers at Penn State University in the US have admitted.

This is because the flow of lithium particles known as ions from one electrode to another to charge the unit and hold the energy ready for use does not happen smoothly with rapid charging at lower temperatures.

They have now found that if the batteries could heat to 60C (140F) for just 10 minutes and then rapidly cool again to ambient temperatures, lithium spikes would not form and heat damage would be avoided.

At this point, admittedly it’s a bit of a blur (you can read the complete article here) – suffice to say the point is that they figured out a solution to fast-charging! Bingo!