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The Street
The Street
James Ochoa

This electric vehicle competitor blows Tesla Supercharging out of the water

The long time for charging is a barrier of entry for most people trying to adopt the plug instead of the pump. 

According to Tesla TSLA, their home-installed Wall Connector can provide its vehicles with "up to 44 miles of range per hour of charge," while their so-called Supercharger fast chargers can provide up to "200 miles in 15 minutes of charge." 

Related: Top investors defend Tesla bull case after stock slides on HSBC report

However, the wizards at the Volvo-backed EV rival Polestar GELYF have something even faster. 

At its Polestar Day event, the Swedish EV wizards announced that they have been in development of a new "extreme fast charging battery" that is capable of providing 100 miles of charge in just five minutes. 

Polestar has collaborated with StoreDot, a lithium-ion battery developer focused on speeding up EV charging that claims to have "revolutionized the conventional li-ion battery by innovating and synthesizing proprietary organic and inorganic compounds.”

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More surprisingly, the firm said that it is on track to reduce the already fast charging rate down to just 100 miles in 3 minutes by 2028, and is aiming for a dizzying two minutes in 2032.

Polestar said that they have fitted a Polestar 5 prototype with these advanced batteries and that the system is essentially production ready.

"We are extremely pleased and proud that Polestar aims to be the first automotive company to showcase our extreme fast charging battery cells in a full-scale, driveable prototype,” StoreDot Chief Dr. Doron Myersdorf said. “We still have lots of work to do to fully integrate our systems into a production car, but our teams are already fully engaged, and we will be demonstrating those results in the coming months.”

Shoppers look at a Polestar hatchback EV car in the showroom of Polestar Battersea

Richard Baker/Getty Images

Unlike most conventional EV batteries, StoreDot claims that its batteries have a completely flat charge curve, as well as no charging degradation; meaning that its batteries will charge at its full rate for their full lifetime. The firm says that what makes its batteries different from the competition is that the graphite in typical EV lithium ion batteries is replaced with silicon. 

Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath said, “StoreDot’s pioneering extreme fast charging batteries, combined with our upcoming top-of-the-line electric powertrain, can revolutionize the ownership experience for EV owners with the ability to recharge in minutes.”

More Business of EVs:

For one to fully take advantage of this fast charging, one would need a charger that is capable of charging at 350kW. Currently, Electrify America offers 350kW of charging on its "Hyper Fast" charging locations that is available in very select locations nationwide. 

Ben Porter kisses his wife Teresa Porter as they charge their Mitsubishi i-MiEV at an Electrify America charging station in Waco, TX on May 27, 2023. (Photo by Shelby Tauber for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

The Washington Post/Getty Images

Polestar's commitment to the NACS charging port means that its vehicles could charge at the Tesla's Superchargers, whose "V4 Supercharger" is capable of reaching such charging speeds. 

Polestar claims that the "100in5" battery pack will go into production by 2027. 

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