Shell Invents Fast Charging Elixir
Credit: Shell
British oil company Shell, together with RML Group, has developed a fluid that allows an experimental 34 kWh battery to be charged from 10 to 80% in less than ten minutes. At the same time, the battery cells are not exposed to the dangerous heating caused by high charging currents, which means that the battery life is not affected to the extent that is observed when using express charging without additional cooling. According to Shell, if such a battery with EV-Plus coolant is installed in an electric car with carefully calibrated aerodynamics, ensuring an energy consumption of no more than 1 kWh per 10 km, then the range can be replenished to 24 km in a minute. According to Shell, traditional electric cars can restore the range of only 5 km in a minute of charging. Of course, on batteries with a higher capacity, the charging time will probably exceed the ten minutes stated by Shell, but the very appearance of such a fluid on the market will significantly simplify the life of electric car owners.
It is not clear when EV-Plus fluid will be used by Shell’s partners, but given the global scale of the company’s business, it will certainly be of interest to automakers around the world.
