A Canadian start-up – GBatteries – came with a bold claim. They claim that they have a technology that will allow to recharge electric cars as fast as you can refuel cars nowadays.
The people behind the project are Kostya Khomutov – an aviation engineer, Alex Tkachenko and Nick Sherstyuk – electric technicians and Tim Sherstyuk – the CEO. The start-up is financed by Airbus Ventrues, Initialized Capital, Plug and Play and by SV Angel.
A different approach
While most companies that aim to improve batteries in one way or another focuses on developing new chemicals or materials to improve the batteries GBatteries took a different approach. They decided to used AI algorithms.
And their claims are quite bold. They promise to recharge a 60kWh battery in just five minutes. On average a 60kWh battery will allow an electric car to drive roughly 190 kilometers (118 miles). Compare that will the current chargers that will recharge only about 24 kilometers (15 miles) of range in the same time.
They key is the adapter
To get such results you need to use a special adapter that plugs into the charging connector of the car. And it should all work with the current infrastructure for charging electric cars with lithium-ion batteries.
Most of the current charges are pretty primitive actually. But at the same time many complex factors - like temperature – can have an influence on the charging. The GBatteries device uses a special charging model that increases and decreases the speed of the charging how it needs resulting in much faster charging overall.
Inspiration from phone batteries
The start-up was inspired by the slow degradation of batteries in mobile phones. They though one of the main reasons for that was the incorrect way people recharge their phones and they were searching for a way how to improve the lifespan of the batteries while improving the batteries themselves.
After weeks in the laboratory, they managed to prepare a simple controlling model and algorithm that they tested on several batteries. After six months there was a noticeable difference between regular and the tested batteries.
The first public showing of the product took place last week at CES in Las Vegas. So at the moment, we do not know when or even whether the technology will get used in commercially available electric cars. But such fast charging could massive improve the chances of electric cars becoming more prominent on the market
Sources:
- https://www.gbatteries.com
- https://techcrunch.com/2019/01/15/gbatteries-let-you-charge-your-car-as-quickly-as-visiting-the-pump/
