EV battery has SIX-minute charging – same as it takes to fill fuel car

An energy technology company has unveiled an electric vehicle (EV) battery with six-minute charging times.

The latest generation of ‘Shenxing’ lithium-iron-phosphate batteries from China’s CATL charges from 10 per cent to 98 per cent in just six minutes and 27 seconds.

A more standard charge from 10 per cent to 80 per cent takes just three minutes and 44 seconds.

Or, if you only have a minute to spare, you can still power your car back up to 35 per cent in under 60 seconds.

That smashes the previous benchmark of nine minutes for a full charge set by Chinese rival BYD last month.

Although those record times assume relatively mild temperatures, the world’s largest maker of EV batteries promises lightning-fast performance in sub-zero conditions.

Just in case you were planning an Arctic expedition, the Shenxing battery still charges from 10 per cent to 98 per cent in nine minutes at -30°C (-22°F).

Robin Zeng, CATL’s billionaire founder and chief executive, told reporters at an event in Beijing: ‘The boundaries of electrochemistry are still far from being reached, and the possibilities of materials science are still far from being exhausted.’

China’s CATL has unveiled an EV battery (pictured) that can charge from 10 per cent to 98 per cent in just six minutes and 27 seconds 

CATL, officially known as Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd, revealed the technology ahead of the Beijing auto show.

The company says its impressive charging speeds have been made possible by reducing the electrical resistance inside the battery.

This is key because the lower the electrical resistance, the more efficiently the battery can transfer energy and the faster it can charge.

The design also allows the battery to keep charging quickly closer to 100 per cent, while most EV batteries dramatically slow their charging past 80 per cent.

According to CATL, the new Shenxing battery has the lowest resistance of any commercial battery, coming in under half the industry average at just 0.25 milliohms.

For sustained performance in cold weather, which has been a major problem for EV batteries, CATL has developed a system that allows the battery to heat itself in pulses.

These upgrades mean that the Shenxing battery offers charging speeds far shorter than anything else on the market.

By comparison, the batteries used by Hyundai and Porsche use nickel-manganese-cobalt batteries that charge from 10 per cent to 80 per cent in 18 minutes.

Thanks to very low electrical resistance, the new Shenxing battery charges to 80 per cent in three minutes and 44 seconds

Critically, that brings EVs that much closer to the speed of filling up a tank of petrol.

CATL chief technology officer Gao Huan told reporters: ‘We always deliver what we promise.’

During the event, the Chinese EV giant unveiled additional achievements in battery design.

These included a new nickel-cobalt-manganese EV battery that can deliver 612 miles of range on a single charge.

The company also showcased an extremely ambitious ‘condensed matter’ battery that gives 932 miles (1,500 km) of range.

However, this type of battery design is currently used for electric aircraft and would only be available on the most premium models.

CATL’s Chief Scientist, Wu Kai, said that the company was pursuing a ‘multi-chemical’ approach, offering different batteries for different tiers of the market, from budget-friendly city cars to heavy-duty long-range trucks.

Mr Kai told reporters: ‘A complex world demands a variety of solutions. New energy vehicles should be accessible to everyone rather than just a few.’

The battery maker also revealed a ‘condensed’ battery for premium vehicles (pictured) that has a maximum range of 932 miles (1,500 km) on a single charge 

However, studies have warned that the environmental costs associated with mining rare earth minerals for batteries can sometimes outweigh an EV’s reduced emissions.

A recent study found that electric vehicles produce more pollution than cars running on petrol or diesel in the first two years of operation.

This is largely due to the massive emissions associated with extracting lithium, which result in approximately 15 tonnes of CO2 for every tonne of metal.

But the tables turn after year three, and electric vehicles result in a significant reduction in cumulative CO2 emissions over a typical 18-year lifespan.

According to the study, internal combustion engines produce two to three times more pollution overall when considering both climate and air quality.’