http://www.motoring.com.au/breakthrough-ev-tech-to-charge-cars-in-seconds-105035/
Breakthrough EV tech to charge cars in seconds
December 12, 2016
New supercapacitor energy storage system could revolutionise electric vehicles – and unsettle car-makers
Experts at two leading UK universities have tested and verified a new material that can reportedly fully charge a mobile phone in seconds and provide around 240km of driving range for an electric vehicle in just minutes.
Experts from the University of Surrey and University of Bristol have tested the new supercapacitor technology developed by UK firm Augmented Optics and given it the thumbs up as a viable storage medium, noting that the breakthrough material could render Lithium-ion batteries completely obsolete.
“There is a global search for new energy storage technology and this new ultra capacity supercapacitor has the potential to open the door to unimaginably exciting developments,” said Dr Brendan Howlin of the University of Surrey, one of the chief investigators examining the new material.
Based on a new polymer, a large molecule type that’s often used to create synthetic plastics, the supercapacitor technology is said to be 1000 times more effective than current supercapacitors, which charge quickly but also discharge their energy equally rapidly.
As such, they’ve been unsuitable for laptops, phones and cars, but that could all change if the tests can be repeated in real-world scenarios.
Dr Ian Hamerton, an expert in polymers and composite materials at the department of aerospace engineering at the
University of Bristol, said the new technology was “extremely exciting” and a “potentially game changing development.”
“While this research has potentially opened the route to very high density supercapacitors, these polymers have many other possible uses in which tough, flexible conducting materials are desirable, including bioelectronics, sensors, wearable electronics and advanced optics.”
Dr Donald Highgate, an alumnus of the University of Surrey and now the director for Augmented Optics, told UK car site
Auto Express that the technology “may take over entirely” from current battery technology.
Dr Highgate said his team wants to build an electric car that will travel up to 240km but take just seconds to charge.
“Disruptive, yes – it would be a terrible shock to car manufacturers – but cars could be built on the same factory lines,” he said.
(20min delay)