The development of new battery technology is making giant strides. The next generation of batteries is already in the starting blocks at the car giant BYD and a new solid-state cell from the manufacturer Talent New Energy is expected to enable ranges of up to 2000 kilometers in normal electric cars in the future. Elsewhere, the focus is on loading speed. Porsche is currently proud that the new Taycan can charge with up to 320 kilowatts and Lotus claims top values of up to 350 kilowatts for the Eletre.
At least in Germany, this will only be usable on a large scale in the medium term due to the lack of correspondingly fast columns, but developments clearly point in the right direction: one day charging an electric car should not take longer than a refueling stop. The Chinese brand Zeekr is already outshining the current record-breaking vehicles – and is getting closer and closer to its ambitious goal of the shortest possible charging time.
The Chinese car media “CarNewsChina” reports that the new Zeekr 001, a luxurious shooting brake, has up to 580 kilowatts – provided the right charging station is installed. The car relies on an 800-volt platform and can charge the battery from 10 to 80 percent in just 11.5 minutes. For comparison: Porsche takes around 18 minutes, which is also pretty quick.
The manufacturer, part of the Geely Group, demonstrated the car’s capabilities in videos on social networks in China. In order to access the power mentioned, the vehicle needs to be connected to an 800 kilowatt charging station from our own company. If you had the car in Germany, you would currently look in vain for such fast charging points. The expansion of the infrastructure has already begun in China.
How quickly the car charges becomes clearer when you look at the kilometers that this charging power adds to the range in just a few minutes. A relatively long charging window at maximum performance increases the possible distance by 264 kilometers in 5 minutes. The built-in lithium iron phosphate battery (LFP) is intended to achieve extreme performance through a novel temperature control that maintains the optimal cell temperature.
The vehicle is currently not available in Germany. The company is currently accepting pre-orders for the 001 and would like to begin deliveries soon, but the images currently shown are of the old version, not the vehicle last presented in China. This can be seen externally, for example, in the lidar sensors on the roof and a modified front bumper. In Germany, the Zeekr 001 costs from around 60,000 euros; in the highly competitive home market of China, Zeekr sells the car for the equivalent of 37,500 US dollars, minus some discounts for last-minute buyers.
