how about that? six minutes!

That would be a game changer.

 

It doesn't make sense- a Chevy Volt uses about 10Kw of it's battery storage for 50 miles of range- 4x that =40kw for 200 miles. assuming 230volt charging, then E x I = P, so , 230 volts x 173 amps = 40Kw, but wait that is for one hour, so something would have to be 10X greater 6min x 10= 60 min
no way could you have 1730 amps going into a battery in 6 minutes from a house charger-- nope, it's a news story, but not reality

 

Time to sell your oil company stock!

 

This would need to be a fast-DC charger, ala Tesla's supercharger, not a home charger (unless the home charger had a huge capacitor bank to store up them little electrons in bulk until it came time to shove them all out fast).

But the home model is for charging overnight, and doesn't need six minute fast charging. Six minute charging is for highway trips, commercial vehicles, and for people without a charger at home. The gas station model, without the underground tanks (though maybe with underground capacitor banks for when all charging stations are sucking electrons at once).

I wonder if in addition to hooking up the electrical charger, you would also hook to up a high-speed coolant circuit. A new global warming fear: battery recharging.

 

So you are an oil baron. (J R Priuscatprimeguy)

 

this new battery will start showing up in cars around 2030, i'm keeping my pip until then.

 

6 minute swap would be on par with pumping gas. Batteries are just a stop gap. Little Bush's H2 fueled cars will be here in less than 2 years as part of the new hydrogen economy....

 

Ok, so let's play what this has to do with the Prime:

• 25kWh -> 100 miles

We'll be conservative and assume the same 6 minutes for 25kWh for just 100 miles. This means we need 250kW for 6 minutes:

	volts	amps
1	250kV	1A
2	125kV	2A
3	50kV	5A
4	10kV	25A
5	5kV	50A
6	1kV	250A
7	500V	500A

So what happens is a tradeoff between insulation size and wire gauge. Did I mention adding a 250kW load could be considered ... problematical.

Bob Wilson

 

So let's assume that the Prius Prime with these new wonder-batteries needs 500V to drive the motor. The ideal situation would be to have 20, 500V strings. Put the all in series and 10kV at 25A would work great. Then put them all in parallel and have a nice day.

Bob Wilson

 

Personally I think the answer are liquid reactant batteries. Not a high-pressure gas like hydrogen although I am OK with liquids that can be reduced to hydrogen. But there are more chemistries available than hydrogen to carry energy.

Bob Wilson

 

we need underground charging, where you simply pull onto a pad, and the high voltage creates an exciting experience for all.

 

Bolt = 60kWh and 238 miles of range. Charging that to 90% in 6 minutes will require 540kW.

Normally, 540kW is provided by a 3-phase AC transformer running at 480V and 650A.

This would obviously be using an external DC fast charger. CCS is specified for up to 200kW with expansion to 350kW in the future.

 

I would be more concerned on heat dissipation from the higher amps required to charge that fast.

 

When we get in the range of 500V, spark gap risk becomes important. Again, returning to our Prius Prime with the wonder battery.

In perfect conditions a spark takes 3,000,000V/meter or 30kV per cm but contamination and sharp points can reduce this by about a factor of 3, giving ~10kV/cm. An inch has about 2.5 cm so a Prius Prime, 'spark gap' charger could handle may be 25kV between the terminals. We're starting to look a pretty large, bulky cable with conductors rated at 10A.

Bob Wilson

 

i'm sure toshiba has already thought all this through, and has a very simple and inexpensive charger and evse to go along with the six minute battery that will be available next year.