These New Generation Fast Chargers Can Charge An Electric Car In Three Minutes Flat
BMW unveiled its latest research project that could possibly propel the adoption of electric vehicles. In collaboration with Porsche and Siemens the German car maker has come up with a technology that claims to charge an electric car in less than 3 minutes.
On Thursday, BMW unveiled its latest research project that could possibly propel the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) multifold. In collaboration with Porsche and Siemens, the German car maker has come up with a technology that claims to charge an electric car in as less than 3 minutes.
That is practically the same time taken to refuel petrol/diesel car. Which means that the one big plus that the conventional vehicles had over EVs will be taken care of. As of now, this is one major factor stopping many prospective buyers from opting for electric cars. After all, nobody wants to wait for 20 minutes for about 50 percent battery capacity.
That, however, is the charging time taken by Tesla Superchargers, considered to be the fastest charging option at present, with up to 145 kW of power. The new charging technology by BMW ups this to 450 kW, meaning a full charge in 15 minutes and enough for a 100 kilometre drive in 3 minutes as per the research.
BMW
The Possible Effect
The EV industry has been looking to bring down the charging time for EVs since long now. If the widespread implementation of 45kW superchargers becomes viable, the problem of buying and running an EV in a populated space (like India) can be solved easily. The visible (and ideal) future scenario would be the replacement of fossil fuel pumps with such charging stations and of course, of IC engine cars with EVs.
That looks to be a distant dream though, considering there are many roadblocks which BMW and the associated companies will have to face before making this a viable solution.
Roadblocks
Battery life - Also, it is common knowledge that batteries are prone to wearing out if the charging (or discharging) process is accelerated. So as the superchargers will rapidly charge the batteries, their frequent use is bound to reduce the life of the battery.
Energy requirement - Charging stations, on an average, take a considerable amount of energy from the grid. As can be guessed in the case of superchargers, this requirement is only going to go up. Providing this much of energy off the grid would be next to impossible unless corresponding infrastructure for energy generation is also built.
