The inventor of a critical component inside today’s lithium-ion batteries has claimed another breakthrough. Dr. Rachid Yazami claims his new ‘Non-Linear Voltammetry’ technology can fully charge an Electric Vehicle (EV) in roughly the same time it takes to fill up a tank at a gas station.
Range anxiety and the relatively high time to recharge a car battery have been two of the most troubling challenges for Electric Vehicle (EV) adoption. New technology promises to address one of them by exponentially reducing the recharging time.
High-density battery charging in ten minutes using a new charging technology:
Every electronic gadget that is not tethered to a wall outlet, contains a battery. And lithium-ion is by far the most popular technology.
Collectively, manufacturers around the world produced 10 billion batteries in 2019, and 98 percent of these had the anode that Dr. Rachid Yazami developed.
https://t.co/2Aw6PpRFLy “Inventor of the graphite anode – key Li-ion battery tech – says he can now charge an electric car in 10 minutes
Dr Rachid Yazami shares his predictions for EV batteries with The Register https://t.co/D5teWmnpAr
— BatteryTechnicians.com Global (@battery_news) June 14, 2021
Needless to add, the inventor has a lot of respect in the world of battery technology. And now he is after another breakthrough: fast-charging batteries. His recent statement:
We developed new tech which is the fastest charging tech for batteries in the world. Recently, we completed high-density battery charging in ten minutes. If you compare that to Tesla at 70 minutes, we are seven times faster.
Yazami claims the secret to super-fast charging of large lithium-ion batteries that power vehicles, is to make them “happy”. By ensuring the battery’s happiness stays high, manufacturers can boost the resilience or the battery’s ability to accept and absorb charge at a higher rate.
What is Non-Linear Voltammetry and how is it different or better than today’s EV Charging technologies?
Comparing today’s charging methods with a typical visit to a gas station, Yazami states, “Traditionally, batteries have been charged by applying constant current, much in the way that one would fill up a gas tank, you put the nozzle in and start pumping.’
The inventor’s charging technology modulates the voltage instead of the current. Needless to mention, the majority of charging technologies today have simple levels of voltages, but control the amperes very carefully.
Why Elon Musk & professor Rachid Yazami don't work together to develop a SuperBattery?@elonmusk @tesla #yazami #Elonmusk #tesla #battery #TeslaGigafactory #Gigafactory #LithiumIonBatteryChemistry #LithiumIonBattery #LithiumBattery #supperbattery pic.twitter.com/K0hY2X7bq2
— Salah Hammadi – Buyodomain.com (@buyodomain) April 6, 2021
Dr. Yazami’s technology uses “Non-Linear Voltammetry” that controls voltage instead of controlling the current. Simply put, the technology chooses a certain level of voltage till a battery reaches a particular level of charge.
The technology incrementally alters the voltage to a suitable amount necessary for the new steps. The process continues and ultimately, the battery charges when the voltage reaches its highest step.
Needless to mention, this is an over-simplification. There are several parameters that any charging technology has to finely monitor, alter, and teak to ensure there are not abnormal temperature fluctuations.
Nonetheless, any technology that can safely and reliably reduce the time it takes to recharge a large EV battery is surely welcome. It is, however, not clear if or when this technology will hit commercial production.