Still hesitating to switch from a gasoline-powered car to an electric car? The Polestar 5 will soon make the choice much easier.
Electric cars, like the Polestar 4, already have many advantages over gasoline cars, but there are still plenty of areas for improvement. One of the most important is charging speed, because filling up with gasoline is still much faster than standing along the highway at a fast charger.
However, that difference is getting a lot smaller with the latest technology. For example, Polestar is developing a charging technology together with battery maker Storedot that will ensure that within ten minutes the battery of the future Polestar 5 will be charged 10 to 80 percent.
Polestar’s future electric car charges even faster
Polestar is busy developing the Polestar 5. Right now, it already has a prototype and in it one important feature seems to be getting a major upgrade. For example, it should be possible to charge even faster.
To this end, Polestar, together with partner Storedot, has developed the so-called XFC technology, which can be applied in future models of the brand. This technology ensures a consistent charging speed of 310 kW and even ran up to 370 kW at the end.
(Image: Polestar)
To achieve that, the Polestar 5 prototype includes a special 77 kWh battery pack. With the use of XFC technology, that battery is charged from 10 to 80 percent in ten minutes. That effectively means you can top up a 320-kilometer range in those ten minutes.
That XFC technology revolves around silica-dominant cells in the battery of the electric car. The big advantage is that these have better mechanical properties and improved cooling capability than the NMC cells found in current lithium-ion batteries. The new cells do not require an external cooling system. Moreover, the material is recyclable and does not make the car heavier.
The progress of fast charging
And these are important strides being made by Polestar. The biggest problem with faster charging is the heat that comes with it. If a battery gets too hot it comes at a cost. So if that heat can be better regulated by the battery, higher charging speeds are possible.
In recent years there has been considerable progress on fast charging an electric car. Where previously the maximum power was 50 kW, there are currently fast chargers offering speeds up to 350 kW. In turn, the Polestar 4 has a charging speed of up to 200 kW.
Why you prefer to charge your electric car to 80 percent
It sounds tempting to charge your electric car on the fast charger to 100 percent, but 80 percent is better for your battery. Starting at 80 percent, the charging rate already becomes much slower because the battery needs to cool down so it doesn’t get damaged. When the battery is between 20 and 80 percent capacity, its chemical structure remains intact, making it less likely to age.
Unfortunately, at this point, there are still fairly few cars that offer charging speeds of 350 kW. Right now, for example, the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and 6 tap this speed. So this concept from Polestar could be just one step faster. Now for charging paths that offer 370 kW.
