Shell Lubricants Developed A New Fluid To Help EVs Charge Faster
If you want to make an electric car that can charge quicker, maybe it’s not just fresh tech companies that you should be looking to for help. It might be a company that specializes in fast fossil-fuel fill-ups that finds a solution it can bring to market.
Shell, yes that Shell, has just announced a new battery innovation that allows 10-80 percent charging in under 10 minutes. It uses a new fluid to cool the battery cells so that they can accept a charge far more quickly than existing packs. The claim is that it can add 15 miles of charge per minute, though that takes some very specific circumstances and a car that might not exist yet.
New Fluid Helps Solve A Hot Problem
The new battery pack doesn’t need special cells or a new chemistry or other fancy tech. It’s the new Shell EV-Plus Thermal Fluid that enables ultra-fast charge speeds. Shell describes it as an “electrically non-conductive fluid, which facilitates excellent heat transfer by filling all of the interstitial spaces within the battery pack, maximizing direct contact between the fluid and each battery cell.”
EV batteries get hot when they’re charging. The quicker they charge, the hotter they get. This fluid gets into more places and then sucks that heat away more quickly to help control and regulate temperatures across each cell. Better thermal management means a better charge curve and faster charging. It’s also better for battery life as well as safety.
Shell says that the pack it developed was capable of a 10-minute 10-80% charge. For reference, a current Tesla Model 3 takes around 20 minutes to do the same. The test pack had a small 34 kWh capacity, but that size doesn’t greatly affect the 10-80 time.
This is some quick charging, though Shell didn’t say what the charge rate was. The claim of 15 miles per minute, though, will take some additional context. Shell gave that figure under the assumption that the EV in question used just 6.2 miles per kWh. That’s significantly lower consumption than even the most efficient EV on sale in the US today, the Lucid Air Pure (5 mi/kWh).
Tech Comes From Data Centers And Power Transformers
Shell Lubricants partnered with UK motorsports company RML Group. You might better know the RML Group from its incredible cars like the 911-based RML GT Hypercar, but the company has spent 40 years helping develop and prototype vehicles for automakers big and small.
“As we celebrate World EV Day, we are thrilled to demonstrate that Shell EV-Plus Thermal Fluids can help to significantly improve battery thermal performance, paving the way towards higher charging efficiencies, enhanced safety, convenience and cost-effectiveness – to support the widespread adoption of BEVs demanded by legislative initiatives around the world.”
– Jason Wong, global executive vice president of Shell Lubricants.
The company says it has successfully tested the battery pack using its new coolant fluid and that it didn’t compromise safety, stability, or the lifespan of the pack. The Gas-to-Liquid technology that Shell used in the new coolant was actually developed through the company’s experience cooling electric transformers and data centers.
Source: Top Gear