Are you thinking of making the move to electric but are worried about potential charging times?
Currently, electric vehicles (EVs) can take anywhere from a few hours to a whole day to fully charge, with mileage on a full battery also being a distinct issue. This means that long journeys can require many stops that take several hours at a time. Whilst EVs are heralded as the future of travel, this has been a major problem in the industry, but that might all be about to change.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, or NASA as it’s more widely known, has almost accidentally found a solution to the EV conundrum. In creating a technique known as “subcooled flow boiling”, which is generally used for transferring heat away from nuclear reactors and fossil boilers, EV batteries can now be charged in less than five minutes.
The electric current delivered through this technique is nearly three times more than the best chargers available, and almost ten times more than the average charger on the market. With dramatically reduced charging times, and distance issues becoming insignificant, NASA may have stumbled upon the most important motoring discovery of all time.
It’s not all good news though. For one, we can assume that NASA technology does not come cheap. Not only would the size of the infrastructure project be colossal, but it also might be prohibitively expensive to have these on every street, let alone in your garage.
On top of this, it isn’t something you can go into your local electronics shop and buy or get next-day-delivery from Amazon and install yourself, just yet. The technique as used for electric vehicles isn’t ready to roll out, and those working on this at Purdue University are currently looking for industry backing to make this idea a reality.
However, it’s not all bad. Historically, NASA have been pretty good at creating technology that goes from space stations to your front room: camera phones, cordless vacuums and even memory foam were all once space-specific technology, so there’s hope for EVs yet.
The production of petrol and diesel cars will be banned in the UK from 2030, meaning that pretty soon something like this has to revolutionize the way we travel, but is this the answer?
If this article has made you want to make the switch to EVs, or if you need any advice about switching, pop in and see us. We’ll give you honest impartial advice.
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