US scientists present method of charging EVs in ten minutes

Researchers at the Idaho National Laboratory claim to have designed superfast charging methods tailored to power different types of electric vehicle (EV) batteries in 10 minutes or less without harm.

Charging the lithium-ion batteries that fuel EVs is a delicate balancing act, with current methods able to get an EV to full charge in about half an hour. 

By inputting information about the condition of many lithium-ion batteries during their charging and discharging cycles, scientists have used machine learning analysis to predict lifetimes and the ways that different designs would eventually fail.
 
The team then feed that data back into the analysis to identify and optimise new protocols that they tested on real batteries.

“Fast charging is the key to increasing consumer confidence and overall adoption of electric vehicles,” says Eric Dufek, Ph.D., who presented the findings at a meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS) - a nonprofit organisation funded by  the US Department of Energy’s Vehicle Technologies Office.

“It would allow vehicle charging to be very similar to filling up at a gas station.”