Chinese automaker Zeekr says that its newly upgraded electric vehicle (EV) batteries are able to support 5.5C ultra-fast charging that can charge an EV from 10 per cent to 80 per cent in just 10.5 minutes – the fastest in the world.
The new lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries – which were originally unveiled in December of 2023 – were tested in Zeekr’s new 007 sedan model and charged with Zeekr V3 ultra-fast charging piles which are rated for up to 800kW charging speeds.
According to CnEVPost, the new charging speeds means that the Zeekr 007 is able to add 265km (CLTC) on a 5-minute charge and 582km on a 15-minute charge.
Zeekr made the announcement during a ‘Tech Day’ event on Tuesday. The company, which is owned by Chinese megalith Geely, credited the new record charging speed to “optimised materials and upgraded technology” that makes its new LFP 5.5C batteries faster to charge than traditional nickel-cobalt-manganese batteries.
The new batteries were developed in-house by Zeekr’s e-powertrain R&D team and, utilising an enhanced battery management system (BMS), allows a vehicle’s charging to remain stable and fast “even in harsh environmental conditions”.
Zeekr did acknowledge that the new charging speed can be affected by some of those “harsh environmental conditions”. For example, though the new batteries can charge at temperatures as low as -10 degree Celsius, the time to charge from 10 per cent to 80 per cent shoots out to around 30 minutes.
While the batteries making this new charging speed possible appear to be restricted at the moment to the 007, which begins deliveries in China next week, Zeekr has nevertheless already deployed over 2,700 of its 800V charging piles around China.
Joshua S. Hill is a Melbourne-based journalist who has been writing about climate change, clean technology, and electric vehicles for over 15 years. He has been reporting on electric vehicles and clean technologies for Renew Economy and The Driven since 2012. His preferred mode of transport is his feet.