Volvo parent Geely reveals 600kW EV charging technology

Volvo’s parent company Geely has unveiled 600kW supercharging technology that it says can add 300km of electric vehicle driving range in just five minutes.

The unveiling follows last week’s news that Volvo-backed startup, StoreDot, revealed fast charging prototype battery technology that can add 100 miles of range in 5 minutes.

Currently, only the 01 EV from Geely’s electric-only brand Zeekr is purported to be able to charge at this speed, thanks to its use of CATL’s latest Qilin ultra-long range battery.

How do these technologies differ from each other and what could this mean for the future of EV ownership?

How 300km of charging in 5 minutes can be achieved?

Volvo’s parent company, Geely, which sells EVs in Australia like the Volvo XC40 Recharge, soon-to-be-released C40 and the Polestar 2, has been investing heavily in fast charging technology. 

Now an affiliate company of Geely called Viridi E-mobility Technology (VREMT) has revealed its newer supercharging technology with 600kW chargers that can add 300km of range in 5 minutes.

It is currently only available in China and is ready for mass production, according to VREMT.

Owners of EVs can today use existing charging stations with 360kW of power, but with battery technologies improving rapidly, Geely will utilise the latest battery technology from CATL in their upcoming EVs. 

The latest battery technology is expected to be in the form of CATL’s latest Qilin ultra-long range battery with 1,000km of range and supercharging the next generation of Geely-owned Zeekr brand’s 001 model. 

The same model will also be able to utilise VREMT’s 600kW supercharging technology to add 300km of charge to the Qilin batteries in 5 minutes.

210km vs 300km of charging in 5 minutes

In August 2022, XPeng Motors demonstrated 210 km of range being added in 5 minutes to their upcoming luxury G9 SUV. This was using their new 480 kW superchargers that are currently being deployed at new sites. 

The VREMT superchargers are 20% faster in theory but can add nearly 30% more range. It’d be worth keeping an eye out for real-world demonstration of this newer, faster technology. 

As more EVs end up on the roads, one way to ease range anxiety is if EVs can charge faster during busy holiday periods. Faster charging can help with higher utilisation of the charging infrastructure and more EV owners can benefit from time saved. 

Today, there aren’t too many EVs capable of charging above 200kW in Australia, but this will change over the next couple of years. 

Having faster, reliable charging infrastructure installed today will ensure we are ready for what’s to come.