No. 323: Infrastructure technology to charge an EV battery in a few minutes (October 7, 2011)

Nissan Motor and Kansai University professor Masashi Ishikawa jointly developed a technology to charge an EV battery in a few minutes. The research team elaborated the material of the capacitor to reduce the charging time to a few minutes. The new technology is designed for an EV with a travel distance of several kilometers per charge. The research team used an oxide composite made of tungsten and vanadium in place of carbon for the electrode of a capacitor. Needles of several tens of micrometers in diameter and several millimeters long cover the surface of an electrode. This structure made it possible to increase the capacity and reduce electric resistance.

In the basic experiment to confirm the performance, the research team charged a battery in less than 10 minutes, while maintaining the same level of capacity and voltage of a lithium-ion battery. Repetitive use hardly deteriorated the battery. Because it is theoretically possible to finish charging in three minutes, the research team will try harder to elaborate the material and structure. An EV lithium-ion battery has a large capacity, but it usually takes eight hours to charge it. The research team has opened up a road to a new battery that has both the characteristics of a battery to store high volume electricity and those of a capacitor that allows for quick charge.