A battery pack that is so fast that it is charged to 80 percent in 8.5 minutes. That's what Chinese Svolt is now promising.
Chinese battery manufacturer Svolt has unveiled a new battery pack for electric vehicles that can be charged in "just" 8.5 minutes. The technology behind the charging, referred to as "6C", promises a significant reduction in charging times for electric vehicles.
Svolt, a subsidiary of Chinese automaker Great Wall Motor, has specialized in the development of battery technology since 2018.
The Chinese company's new battery pack is based on third-generation "short blade" cells. Their hallmark is a dropped, almost crescent-shaped design.
These cells are packed tightly together into flat battery packs that are ideal for mounting under the hood of electric vehicles. The "C" category refers to the charging power in relation to the battery size. A "6C" battery can be charged from 10 to 80 percent in 8.5 minutes, which is a significant improvement over previous technologies.
To put that into perspective, it takes 60 minutes to charge a "1C" battery from 10 to 80 percent. Svolt's new technology reduces charging time by over 85 percent.
This is what CNEVSPost writes.
The battery pack uses lithium iron phosphate cathodes (LFP technology). In this way, the Chinese believe they can both reduce the price of the battery and increase the pack's resistance to temperature fluctuations.
In the past, short-blade cells were the cheaper solution, but with the compromise that electric car owners also had to live with a lower energy density. Ergo, a shorter range.
According to Svolt, the new battery has an energy density of 185 Wh/kg, which is at the high end of the range for this type of battery.
However, money for development doesn't just hang around trees. As recently as November last year, the Chinese had to abandon a factory in Germany. There were plans to spend a whopping 19 billion kroner on the project.
Among the most prominent players are CATL, Geely and BYD. The latter is supplying battery technology for the new Toyota bZ3X, an electric crossover specifically developed for the Chinese market. But who Svolt will supply to remains an unresolved question.
