800V Battery Charges 300 Miles in 15 Min.

Recharge Rate Revolutionized: Battery Tech

Geely’s Zeekr recently revealed a cutting-edge in-house battery system with ultra-fast charging up to a staggering 500 kW, twice as swift as the Tesla Model 3. After frequently commenting on Tesla, Geely is now taking action and settling the score.

Called the “Golden Battery,” the 800-volt lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) unit will first be featured in the Zeekr 007 EV, a competitor of Tesla’s Model 3. This cutting-edge battery technology is predicted to be able to restore electric vehicles from 10% to 80% capacity within a span of merely 15 minutes, which would grant an additional 500 km (311 mi.) worth of mileage – roughly double that of the Tesla which may accumulate up to 147 miles within the same time frame.

In comparison with some of the quickest charging EVs, the Golden Battery matches the Rimac Nevera’s remarkable 500kW recharge capacity. The Croatian hypercar creator boasts that their EV can be boosted from empty up to 80% in 19 minutes; this should be pointed out as ‘zero’ instead of the conventional 10%. Now when talking just about minutes, the Lucid Air, carrying 300kW of peak power, is at the top with its ability to go from 10% to full charge in only 16 minutes.

Depending on its powertrain, the Zeekr 007 may possess a CLTC-rated range which can reach up to 870 km (541 miles).

Zeekr recently announced the launch of its new LFP battery, which it claims sets new standards in volume utilization. The innovative “sandwich structure” design of the battery has led to a remarkable volume utilization rate of 83.7%, compared to the leading Chinese battery manufacturer CATL’s nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) Qilin battery at 72%. According to Zeekr, this is a major breakthrough in the industry.

The Chinese automaker has asserted that the battery technology used is highly safe, and that the cells are said to be “extremely fire-resistant” and will not detonate under extreme pressures. To further prove this point, a fire test was conducted with temperatures reaching 700 degrees Celsius (1,292 degrees Fahrenheit). Astonishingly, the battery did not combust or explode even after 240 seconds, which is 110 seconds more than the Chinese national standard.

Zeekr, along with many other Chinese carmakers, does not yet have a foothold in the United States. Nevertheless, the nation may still benefit from the Golden Battery, which is set to be implemented into further companies within Geely’s conglomerate, similar to Polestar, Volvo, and Lotus.

At the present, the Zeekr 007 will hit stores in China this December 27th, with deliveries starting on the first of January in 2021.