New, 800V, electric cars, will recharge in half the time

ELECTRIC VEHICLES (EVs) are becoming commoner. Some 750,000 of them were sold in the first quarter of 2021 according to JATO Dynamics, a British consultancy. JATO reckons EVs now account for just over 4% of new-car sales, up from 2% in the same quarter last year. Yet many potential buyers still suffer from “range anxiety”, a wariness about having to interrupt a long journey while an EV’s battery is recharged. The good news is that the time required to do this is about to be slashed.

Most EVs operate at 400 volts (400V). But a number of producers and their component suppliers are now gearing up to introduce 800V drive systems. Higher voltages supply the same amount of power with less current, which means electric cables can be made lighter—the consequent weight saving helping to increase a vehicle’s range, says Christoph Gillen, a technology director for GKN Automotive, a British components group which recently announced that it is accelerating its development of 800V drive systems. As most cabling is made from copper, the price of which has been soaring, this should also save carmakers money.