EV battery that can charge in five minutes manufactured

A new electric car battery that can be charged in five minutes has been manufactured for the first time on a normal production line in China.

Based on designs by Israeli company StoreDot, the new batteries are designed differently to standard Li-ion ones, replacing the graphite with semiconductor nanoparticles based on germanium, with a move to silicon hoped for the future.

Dr Doron Myersdorf, StoreDot's chief executive said:  "A five-minute charging lithium-ion battery was considered to be impossible.But we are not releasing a lab prototype, we are releasing engineering samples from a mass production line. This demonstrates that it is feasible and commercially ready."

The speed of the charge is based on the battery rather than the charging point, which means this new battery could have a significant impact on the adoption of electric vehicles.

The company produced 1,000 sample batteries with its manufacturing partner Eve Energy in China, which are compliant with Li-ion battery certifications.