JFE Engineering reveals quick battery chargers for electric vehicles

Electric vehicles are attractive due to them not requiring any fuel to run, although there is the issue of making sure they’re fully charged lest you get stuck in the middle of nowhere, miles away from the nearest charging station. Another drawback would be the apparent length of time required to juice up those batteries, which is why JFE Engineering of Japan has come up with a quick battery charger that takes a mere 3 minutes to charge a car’s battery to 50% of its capacity, while waiting around for another 2 minutes will hit a 70% charge. JFE conducted tests with the device, seeing Mitsubishi’s electric car i-MiEV go as far as 80km continuously after a 5-minute charge. JFE hopes to see its charger arrive at gas stations and convenience stores throughout Japan before March 2011 is over.

Edwin Kee
Categories: Green, Transportation
Tags: Battery, electric vehicle, ev