Volvo’s parent company Geely has unveiled a 600kW supercharging technology that could increase the range of electric vehicles by 300km in just five minutes.

The announcement follows last week’s news that Volvo-backed startup StoreDot revealed a fast-charging prototype battery technology that could add 100 miles of range in five minutes.

Currently, only Geely’s electric-only brand Zeekr’s 01 EV uses CATL’s latest Qilin ultra-long range battery, which is said to charge at this rate.

How do these technologies differ from each other and what does this mean for the future of EV ownership?

How can I achieve 300 km charging in 5 minutes?

Geely, the parent company of Volvo, which sells EVs in Australia such as the Volvo XC40 Recharge, the upcoming C40 and the Polestar 2, has invested heavily in fast-charging technology.

Now called Viridi E-mobility Technology (VREMT), Geely’s affiliate has revealed a new supercharger technology with a 600kW charger that can add 300km of range in five minutes.

According to VREMT, it is currently only available in China and is ready for mass production.

EV owners can currently use existing charging stations with 360kW of power, but as battery technology improves rapidly, Geely will utilize CATL’s latest battery technology in its upcoming EVs.

The latest battery technology is expected to come in the form of CATL’s latest Kirin ultra-long range battery, which has a range of 1,000km, to supercharge the next-generation Zeekr-branded 001 models owned by Geely.

The same model can also utilize VREMT’s 600kW supercharging technology to add 300km of charge in 5 minutes to the Qilin battery.

210km vs. 300km charging in 5 minutes

August 2022, XPeng Motors demonstrates 210 km range Add to the upcoming luxury G9 SUV in 5 minutes. This used a new 480 kW supercharger currently deployed at the new site.

A VREMT supercharger is theoretically 20% faster, but can increase range by nearly 30%. It’s worth keeping an eye out for a real-world demonstration of this new, faster technology.

As more EVs hit the roads, one way to ease range anxiety is to allow EVs to charge faster during busy vacations. Faster charging will help increase the utilization of the charging infrastructure, allowing more EV owners to benefit from the time savings.

Currently, there are not many EVs capable of charging over 200kW in Australia, but this will change in the next few years.

Prepare for the future by installing a faster, more reliable charging infrastructure today.

Riz is the founder of Melbourne-based carloop. He is a mechanical engineer who spent the first seven years of his career building infrastructure across Australia before starting carloop. He is passionate about cars, especially his EVs, and wants to reduce the emissions of Australian transport. He currently drives a red Tesla Model 3.