While Tesla’s latest superchargers can get its customers back on the road quicker than ever before, we’re still a ways off a world where recharging an electric vehicle is akin to a quick fuel stop. Exciting progress is being made, however, with the latest promising advance coming from chemical engineers at Penn State University, who have built a new battery they say can fully charge an electric car in just 10 minutes.
Powering smartphones, laptops, cars and trucks, lithium-ion batteries are hugely versatile and largely reliable, but are delicate systems at the same time. As scientists make subtle tweaks to their design in pursuit of new and improved versions, this often creates other problems, like the formation of dendrites that can cause the battery to short circuit.
Another example relates to the ambient temperatures as the battery is charged. Too cold and the lithium ions will take the shape of spikes on the battery anode. This is known as lithium plating and causes the battery to degrade, potentially making it unsafe to use. Charging batteries at higher temperatures is more efficient, but that too can cause lead to battery degradation.