Polestar 5 trialled with ultra-fast 370kW EV charging

Polestar has announced its next-generation battery technology will be so quick to charge it will almost match the time it takes to refuel a combustion-powered car, following successful trials that saw peak charging rates exceed 370kW without degrading the battery.

With a charging rate that high, the Sino-Swedish car-maker said its Polestar 5 prototype with the experimental 77kWh battery took just 10 minutes to charge from 10-80 per cent in real-world conditions.

Developed by Israel-based battery pioneer StoreDot, the Polestar 5 is said to be the first application of StoreDot’s Extreme Fast Charging (XFC) tech that incorporates a “silicon-rich” battery chemistry able to withstand high levels of current needed for super-quick top-ups.

Full details of XFC are still to be revealed, but the batteries’ internal structure is said to have been designed for enhanced cooling, recyclability and serviceability without any weight penalty over existing tech.

Even when the peak charging rate was reached, the Polestar 5 prototype still managed to draw a consistent 310kW, with the batteries accepting a steady charge with no significant change in charging speed or efficiency.

As a result, Polestar claims a top-up from 50-80 per cent will take just five minutes, around the time required to refuel and pay for a tank of petrol in an ICE car.

XFC also works with the existing DC charging infrastructure, but works best with top-ups above 350kW.

Despite the trial using a 77kWh power pack, Polestar is now confident it can upscale the tech to be applied to a 100kWh battery that will be capable of adding as much as 320km of range in a mid-size car in just 10 minutes.

“Time is one of life’s greatest luxuries, and as a manufacturer of luxury electric performance cars, we need to take the next step to address one of the biggest barriers to EV ownership – charging anxiety,” said Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath.

“With this new technology, on longer journeys when drivers do stop they’ll be able to spend less time charging and be back on the road faster than before. In fact, that stop time will be more akin to what they experience with a petrol car today.”

There’s been no announcement when Polestar plans to introduce the new StoreDot battery tech.

However, if it does emerge on the inbound Polestar 5, the 370kW peak rate would be faster than the recently facelifted Porsche Taycan that can now be topped up at a rate of 320kW.

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