Chinese EV maker NIO has designed a charging system that can charge EV batteries at 500kW. The new system can recharge an EV from 10-80% in 12 minutes.
Also, non-NIO EVs can use the new charging infrastructure as well, provided that their batteries are compatible with 500 kW chargers. The Chinese EV maker says that the charging stations can charge 800V-platform EVs faster than 400V-platform EVs. 400V EVs need 20 minutes to charge 80%, while 800V variants 12 minutes, it added.
The ultra-fast charger sports a 15.6-inch display and NIO’s patented liquid cooling technology. This reduces the charging cable’s weight and makes it one-handed.
500kW is the highest EV charging capacity announced by any EV maker so far. This follows XPeng’s 480kW charging system earlier this year. XPeng Superchargers can produce 670A and can charge Xpeng EVs from 0-80% in 15 minutes.
NIO is also increasing its battery swap station capacity to 408 battery replacements per day. The Chinese company says the 500kW battery charger and improved swap stations will be available in March 2023.
With these improvements, NIO plans to one-up EV brands such as Tesla and Lucid.
