The demand for buying an electric car is rising. While a critical requirement in the fight against the climate crisis, the sector is dealing with some difficulties in convincing sceptics that switching to a sustainable mode of transportation will be worthwhile. The main issue is charging: Availability of enough charging stations along the routes, compatibility issues of different technologies adapted by charging stations and plug points in the cars, fire hazard, and the possible time taken for charging.
Uncertainty over where and whether drivers will find a charging station when they need one continues to be a major barrier to the widespread adoption of electric vehicle mobility. Another important concern for the drivers is battery life -how long will it last? Or, how long will it take to charge?
It is widely assumed that charging is more expensive than gasoline.
Also read | Ford cuts 3,000 jobs as it pivots to EVs, competes with Elon Musk’s Tesla
Many have come up with solutions to these problems. In 2021, an Israel-based company claimed to have batteries that could be charged in five minutes. US researchers recently came up with a design for batteries to be charged in 10 minutes.
In 2021, StoreDot claimed that they had developed a new lithium-ion battery that could be charged in five minutes. The company is known for its extremely fast-charging batteries in mobiles, drones, and scooters to showcase its technology to carmakers. The firm hopes to be able to charge an automobile battery of 100 miles of range in five minutes using the current infrastructure for charging.
Recently, US researchers have come up with a solution to the charging time duration, claiming that they have designed a superfast method that can fully charge several EV batteries in 10 minutes or less without causing any damage to the vehicle. They said that it needs to be checked for balance to charge the lithium-ion batteries that power automobiles.
Also read | UK’s first mass-produced hydrogen truck unveiled by commercial EV startup Tevva
One option to charge the car faster is to modify the charging protocol in a way that maximises charging speed while protecting the various automotive battery designs currently in use.
Eric Dufek, a researcher, said, “We’ve significantly increased the amount of energy that can go into a battery cell in a short amount of time.”
“Currently, we’re seeing batteries charge to over 90 per cent in 10 minutes without lithium plating or cathode cracking,” IANS quoted him as saying.
The researchers said that the model will be used by them to create even better procedures and assist in the creation of batteries for better charging.
Fast charging batteries are in production and might be in the market in the coming years.
Meanwhile there are other innovations already around, like moving robo charging stations, attempts to have chargers in parking lots and malls and so on.
Till charging technologies become standardised and ubiquitous, adoption of electric vehicles will still be a long haul.
(With inputs from agencies)
