A battery startup in the U.K. has developed an electric vehicle (EV) battery that can be nearly fully charged in just 4 minutes and 30 seconds.
According to a CNN broadcast on July 1, the company Nyobolt, headquartered in Cambridge, charged its self-developed 35kWh lithium-ion battery from 10% to 80% in just 4 minutes and 30 seconds during its first live demonstration last week. The charging time is much faster than the roughly 20 minutes at a high-speed charging station like Tesla’s (TSLA) Supercharger. Considering that it takes about 2 minutes to refuel a typical gasoline car, this is a very fast charging speed.
Sai Shivareddy, co-founder and CEO of Nyobolt, stated in a press release, “We have developed a new battery technology that is immediately usable and scalable through extensive research in the U.K. and the U.S.”
According to Nyobolt, the ultra-fast charging technology was developed based on 10 years of research by Clare Grey, a Professor of Materials Chemistry from the University of Cambridge, and Shivareddy, a Cambridge graduate. A design that generates less heat is key to ultra-fast charging without affecting battery life. It has been designed to be safer, as the lithium-ion batteries can catch fire and explode due to overheating.
CNN explained that the material used to make the battery anodes allows electrons to be transmitted faster.
According to CNN, Nyobolt is negotiating battery sales with eight EV manufacturers. Nyobolt’s 35kWh battery is much smaller than the typical 85kWh of a U.S. EV, but CNN predicts that this technology could be used in larger battery packs in the future.
Paul Marchment, a consultant at Arval and a BNP Paribas-owned vehicle leasing specialist, said Nyobolt’s innovation is encouraging, especially for commercial EVs and drivers who use EVs for work.
William Kephart, an e-mobility expert at consulting firm P3 Group and a former engineer, pointed out that the type of EV battery developed by Nyobolt can theoretically charge as fast as promised, but manufacturing the batteries on an industrial scale can be challenging.
Niobium is an important chemical element of the Nyobolt battery, but as Kephart pointed out, only about 83,000 tons were mined worldwide last year. Compared to graphite, which is commonly used as the anode material for lithium-ion batteries, CNN added that approximately 1.6 million tons were produced in 2023.
