Polestar announces that it is working with start-up StoreDot to equip its future electric car Polestar 5 with a new semi-solid battery. The latter can then be recharged in just five minutes, but you will have to be a little more patient.
If charging can still slow down some motorists, who fear the restrictions this may bring and have done so afraid of not finding a terminalHowever, this is becoming less and less relevant. The infrastructure continues to be developed, while battery topping is now faster than ever, with the first Chinese electric car able to charge in 10 minutes.
Ultra-fast charging
A major step forward that should help manufacturers reduce the price of their cars by equipping them with smaller batteries. When some specialists explain that this is more relevant than playing with chemistry, not everyone has the same opinion. This is, for example, the case with Polestar, which has just announced in a press release that it has joined forces Israeli start-up StoreDot to equip its future Polestar 5.
This rival to the Tesla Model S, which was seen in camouflage during last year’s Goodwood speed festival, will be equipped with brand new revolutionary batteries. This last one use technology 100in5 developed by the company. An unambiguous name, because it simply means that this battery can recover 160 km in just five minutes of charging. That corresponds to approximately 160 kilometers.
This technology is also called XFC, an acronym that simply means “ Extremely fast charging“. The American website Electricity explains that to achieve this result, the company replaced the graphite in the lithium battery with silicone. Indeed, this material offers better energy density and therefore makes it possible to increase capacity even if it tends to do so swell when the heat is high.
Note that the battery developed by StoreDot is a semi-solid battery, similar to the battery currently being developed by the Chinese giant CATL or that of the Nio ET7, which announces an autonomy of more than 1,000 km. This solution makes it possible to store about twice as much energy as in a classic lithium-ion package and makes it possible to make the transition to solid technology, which, according to specialists, should not come before the end of the decade. Although some like Nissan are already working on it.
A little patience
If the manufacturer has not yet provided details on this subject, Electrek estimates that the charging power required to fill the battery in five minutes would be only 350 kW. That is high, but not impossible, as Ionity and Lidl in France already offer terminals that can supply this power. The manufacturer Nio has even launched stations that can deliver up to 500 kW.
Currently, Polestar cars can do that too currently receiving up to 250 kW, but the Lucid Air already reaches 350 kW. It also remains to be seen whether the Polestar 5 will be equipped with an 800-volt architecture that allows very fast charging, as on the Hyndai Ioniq 6 and other Porsche Taycans.
StoreDot also indicates this the charging curve of this battery is flat, which indicates that the power always remains the same, at least up to 80%, a value that is reached in only about ten minutes. Which suggests that charging could be even faster than advertised. However, you will have to be patient as this battery will arrive first implemented on a prototype next year.
We’ll have to wait until 2027 The latter will be installed on the production version of the sedan, which will first use a battery supplied by Korean equipment manufacturer SK On. In any case, the manufacturer announced this in another press release, while the Polestar 5 will be launched on the market in 2025. StoreDot will launch its battery in 2028 100in3capable of recover 100 miles in 3 minutes thanks to a charging capacity of 600 kW.