Polestar 5 prototype charges in 10 minutes
Those wild 10-80 per cent SOC claims you've heard? Now one's actually happened
Those of you with regular experience of electric cars and public charging will know that maximum charge rates for both need to be taken with a large grain of salt. Lots and lots of stars need to align, basically, for claims to be met and batteries to be replenished at the advertised speed. The dream is for a depleted battery to become very near full again in not much time at all, because we all have better places to be than at a services, but we’re not quite there just yet.
Polestar reckons it’s made a big step forward, though, with the 5, as a prototype has recorded a 10-80 per cent charge in just 10 minutes. It pulled a mighty 310kW from a DC charger at the beginning, increasing to more than 370kW at 80 per cent state of charge. It benefits from StoreDot’s Extreme Fast Charging (XFC) tech, with the potential of adding 200 miles of range in 10 minutes (a standard 5 will use a 77kWh battery, with the option of 100kWh).
Polestar says this was a world first demonstration of the 10-minute 10-80 per cent charge in the real world, using ‘silicon-dominant cells in a driveable vehicle’. All previous tests have been lab experiments. The XFC battery tech ‘could be applied to future Polestar vehicles’; this seems to be a demonstration of what’s possible rather than a promise of what’s right around the corner, but it still feels like a step in the right direction.
Thomas Ingenlath, Polestar CEO, said: “Time is one of life’s greatest luxuries, and as a manufacturer of luxury electric performance cars, we need to take the next step to address one of the biggest barriers to EV ownership – charging anxiety. With this new technology, on longer journeys when drivers do stop they’ll be able to spend less time charging and be back on the road faster than before. In fact, that stop time will be more akin to what they experience with a petrol car today.” The 5 launch is still believed to be on track for next year, following a reveal in 2023. Best get planning the European road trip now…
There's no way the grid will be able to supply that...
They managed to put that much in so its obviously possible, will be commonplace in a few years I expect.
There's no way the grid will be able to supply that...
There's no way the grid will be able to supply that...
There's no way the grid will be able to supply that...
They managed to put that much in so its obviously possible, will be commonplace in a few years I expect.
Sounds like a real advance though and if the facilities catch up, then perfect.
Still need to find better ways of mining but we aren't worried about African children around these parts.
Also there's the lack of decent noise. Need to be able to install mp3s. I'd have a clipclop sound or a chufchuf sound.
It had physical build problems. It had software problems, its range was massively less than Tesla promised, the autonomous driving had been reduced in scope by delivery from the test drive, and the rate of charging that I actually got at superchargers was rarely what was promised.
I’m now not going to naively accept the promises of jam tomorrow touted by EV manufacturers or be willing to beta test cars that have been rushed out without proper testing having been done by those manufacturers.
One the other hand who would actually buy one right now with this promise of the 'holy grail' just a few years down the line?
There are still downsides and compromises with EVs but its heartening to see the barriers being broken down to lower the bar to entry, which is what I have been predicting based on how tech development tends to play out.
One the other hand who would actually buy one right now with this promise of the 'holy grail' just a few years down the line?
Where is the "Doesnt work" bit ?
Or do you mean doesnt work for everyone, all the time which would be accurate ?
There are still downsides and compromises with EVs but its heartening to see the barriers being broken down to lower the bar to entry, which is what I have been predicting based on how tech development tends to play out.
Our town car does 45 miles on a charge, which is plenty for what it’s designed for. Big batteries are more desirable as charging is slow, so people want to avoid it on long journeys.
Get it down to genuinely 5 minutes to add 100 miles and people may accept 50kwh batteries, allowing lighter cars to suffice until battery technology can give us the bigger capacity in a lighter battery.
The vehicle may well have software that doesn't allow repeated fast charging.
It's a non-issue.
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