High-speed charging claim for Lithium-ion
Vancouver-based AccelRate Power Systems Inc., a developer of battery-enhancing charging technologies, revealed this week it has successfully demonstrated a way to safely reduce the charge time of Lithium-ion batteries from two hours to less than a half hour — in other words, a charge-time decrease of more than 75 per cent. A test that has been ongoing since last August proved that such a quick charge could be done without overheating the battery or compromising performance. “This feature should allow more robust battery performance and greatly reduce the concern about heat generation for high-charge rate applications,” the company stated.
AccelRate has already demonstrated that its chargers can cut charge time with conventional lead-acid, nickel metal hydride and nickel cadmium batteries by 80 per cent. Doing pretty much the same for Lithium-ion technology is important because it opens up one of the fastest-growing battery markets, particularly as Lithium-ion systems gain a foothold in the market for electric, hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles. The ability, say, to charge an electric car battery in less than an hour could serve as a major boost to an EV movement already benefitting from momentum.
Tyler Hamilton is senior energy reporter and columnist for the Toronto Star, Canada's largest daily newspaper. In addition to this Clean Break blog, Tyler writes a weekly column of the same name that discusses trends, happenings and innovators in the cleantech market. This blog is a personal project started in April 2005. It is not an official blog of the newspaper. Tyler can be reached at tyler@cleanbreak.ca