Warmed-up car battery can charge six times faster
An annoying problem with electric cars is that they take a very long time to charge. Scientists have now developed a method that allows them to shorten the charging time by six times.
Long charging time a big problem with electric cars
Refueling a petrol or diesel car is quick. You insert the filling hose of the pump into your tank and while it is swirling it will be filled in a minute or two. Owners of electric cars can only dream of such faster charging times. In practice, their limousine has to stay on the charging cable for hours to bring their exhausted battery pack back to full charge. This is quite a big problem and one of the biggest reasons why electric driving is not breaking through any faster.
Loading time reduced to 10 minutes
A research team has now succeeded in finding a solution for this. Thanks to their discovery, a battery can be charged enough to drive 360 km in just 10 minutes. That brings the charging time within the comfortable range. For example, while your car is charging, you can drink a cup of coffee. And it is already recommended for motorists to take a break every 2 hours.
Nickel foil turns out to be egg of Columbus
Their find is surprisingly simple. Each cell is surrounded by a nickel foil layer only a few micrometers thick. By running current through it during charging, it heats up to a temperature of 65 degrees Celsius. When they tested the system on a 265 Wh battery, they were able to charge it to 70% in just 11 minutes. And more good news: this warming up did not affect the battery life.
An electric car now usually comes with a battery that can store 120 kWh. If this battery is replaced by one of only 60 kWh, but which can be charged in 10 minutes, you can quickly recharge the car every 2 hours while taking a break. This way you can travel quite far with a small battery.
