Imagine charging your electric car battery in 5 minutes!

Unrelated to the pandemic, there are some technological advancements in the automotive industry worth highlighting. For example, according to theceomagazine.com, an Israeli company StoreDot has invented an electric car battery that can be charged in five minutes. 

Currently, electric car batteries can take anywhere from 30 minutes to 12 hours to charge, though a typical EV takes about eight hours to charge from empty to full, according to Pod Point, a manufacturer of electric-vehicle chargers.

The invention of the new battery has drastically cut the time it takes to charge a car battery (approximately the same amount of time it takes to fill your car with petrol). Incredible, don’t you think?

The new lithium-ion batteries developed by StoreDot, are manufactured by Eve Energy in China. Faster-charging batteries would make electric vehicles more functional, especially since electric cars are not optimal for long trips because of the amount of time car batteries take to charge. Electric cars average about 250 miles of driving per charge. With a battery that could charge faster, drivers would not be range-bound and could take EVs on longer trips.

I hope I haven't lost you so far. Now, let’s get a little more technical. QuantumScape, a company that produces solid lithium-ion batteries for electric cars claimed to have a revolutionary solution that could change EVs forever. It’s called a solid-state battery, and it’s based on a simple idea. Instead of a conventional liquid electrolyte, it uses a solid electrolyte. Also, the battery’s negative terminal, called its anode, is made from pure lithium metal. This combination would send its energy density through the roof, enabling ultra-fast charging, and would eliminate the risk of battery fires.  

One of my favourite companies, Tesla, is also working on developing silicon electrodes. Its CEO, Elon Musk, has long been calling for faster-charging speeds for electric cars.