American University develops new fast-charging technology

The development of fast-charging technology is on a very fast lane. At the moment, several companies and research institutes are working on electric car fast charges. Researchers at Penn State University in the United States recently announced a new development. The new battery technology has the potential to cut the full charge time of electric vehicles in half. The fast-charging technology could also reduce the size of the battery. In addition, this new development will improve the range of electric vehicles.

Fast-charging technology takes a new step

The researchers’ study was published earlier this week in the journal Nature. The technology was developed in collaboration with university-backed startup EC Power. It upgrades the internal thermal regulation of the electric vehicle battery system. According to the school, it adds an ultra-thin nickel foil to the structure of the battery. This helps to control the temperature to increase the performance of the battery. Interestingly, the increase in the battery performance does not come with overheating. Therefore, there is no need for a bulky heating and cooling system. The developers say this fast-charging technology reduces the battery charging time to 10 minutes. It also reduces battery size by two-thirds.

One of the major set back of electric vehicles is the long full charge time. Thus, there are efforts to reduce the full charge time and make the system more efficient. In Deloitte’s 2022 Global Automotive Survey, 1 in 10 cited this as their main problem driving an electric vehicle.

According to Penn State, EC Power is currently trying to produce and sell the new battery. Batteries are one of the core aspects of electric vehicles. In fact, power batteries are the new trend. These require some sort of efficient and smart management system. At the moment, there are ongoing studies on tough battery packs. These battery packs can support users’ longer mileage needs. The target is also to reduce the full charge time to as low as 15 minutes. This will obviously reduce user anxiety.