Electric car battery charges in under five minutes in track test
In its first live demonstration, an electric car battery developed by UK start-up Nyobolt has successfully charged from 10% to 80% in four minutes and 37 seconds.
It was achieved with a specially-built concept sports car on a test track in Bedford, and is part of industry-wide efforts to get electric vehicles (EVs) charging more quickly.
By comparison, an existing Tesla supercharger can charge a car battery to 80% in 15-20 minutes.
Experts say eliminating so-called "range anxiety" is key to increasing the uptake of EVs - but also stress the importance of improving the charging infrastructure.
“Developing technology that enables people to charge more quickly, which chimes with the time it currently takes to re-fuel a car – is critical," Paul Shearing, Professor of Sustainable Energy Engineering at Oxford University.
“People are going to want fast-charging infrastructure, independent of what car they’re using – everyone wants to do this more quickly,” he said.
The sports car the Nyobolt battery was fitted to - which was tested over two days this week - achieved a range of 120 miles after four minutes
A Tesla charged to 80% would typically have a range of up to 200 miles.
Dr. Sai Shivareddy, the co-founder of Nyobolt, told the BBC he was pleased with the results but admitted that the tests had been “nerve-wracking”.
The demo was carried out live in front of an invited audience of industry professionals for the first time - with a few hitches along the way.
Challenges included the UK heatwave, a failure in the concept car’s cooling system, and a standard on-site charger that Nyobolt did not make.
These factors prevented the firm from recreating laboratory results, in which it says the battery can charge from 0% to 100% in six minutes.
