168

Toyota claims it is 'almost there' with the ability to manufacture solid state electric batteries that will give EVs a 1,200 km (745 miles) range and that can charge in 10 minutes (archive.ph)

submitted 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) by Lugh@futurology.today to c/futurology@futurology.today

55 comments fedilink hide all child comments

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[-] Semi-Hemi-Demigod@kbin.social 3 points 11 months ago

The physics of electrical conduction mean that you can't cram thousands of watts of power down any given wire without issue. This is why appliance cords are thicker than phone charging cords.

Pushing enough electrons to drive a car a thousand km through a wire in under 10 minutes is going to take a THICCC cable.

[-] Rivalarrival@lemmy.today 4 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

That's not completely accurate. The limiting factor is the resistive heating of the cable, relative to the cable's ability to shed that heat. If heat can't leave the cable faster than it is being added, it will eventually melt or burn through the insulation.

If you wrap the cable strands around a cooling tube, you can use water, oil, or a refrigerant to carry away the heat and push a lot more power through a similar sized cable.

Large underground transmission lines have used such methods.

It may be that the charging station will need to actively cool its cables , and the vehicle's air conditioning system might need a second evaporator coil to actively cool the battery and charging circuitry. But it's certainly possible to deliver that amount of power in that short a time frame, without having to resort to "THICCC" cables.