Zeekr releases next-generation “Golden Battery” EV technology
The new Golden Battery designed for EVs can charge from 10% to 80% in just nine minutes, heralding a new era of fast-charging technology.
Zeekr has released the details of its Golden Battery technology for the first time as part of real-world road tests. The EV manufacturer’s battery has been fitted to the 7X SUV and has successfully replicated its late 2023 lab tests by charging the battery from 10% to 80% in nine minutes and 45 seconds.
Due to trade restrictions between China and the U.S., it took the Out of Spec Reviews YouTube channel to replicate the results in the West, showing how the 75 kWh lithium-ion phosphate (LFP) battery could be drained to 0% before being attached to Zeekr’s proprietary public charging outlet and charged to 100% in 19 minutes.
Zeekr’s 840kW-rated charger is among the most powerful in the world, with the latest public chargers being rated at a mere 350-400kW being rolled out today. The test demonstrated that the 7X SUV started at 200kW until it reached 10% before ramping up to a peak of 460kW, with a sustained average of 400kW.
The charging speed within the 10-80% range took just over nine minutes, thus bringing EVs into a similar category as refueling a standard gasoline-powered vehicle. The secret behind this success is Zeekr’s fast-charging network, already primed to roll out to markets like Australia and Thailand, per Motor 1, and its LFP battery technology.
What this means for customers is that the Zeekr 7X SUV can add an extra 21 miles to your overall for every minute plugged into the charger. Theoretically, this means that just four minutes of charging would add 85 miles, thus overcoming one of the most significant barriers to the EV market from the consumer perspective.
China has demonstrated that it’s the global leader in EV battery technology. In another test, Zeekr used its fast-charging technology on a Porsche Taycan. The demonstration showed that the average charging time could be more than halved when compared to the chargers available to consumers today throughout much of the world.
Sadly, steep trade tariffs and the prospect of an outright ban in the U.S., UK, and much of Europe means that Western consumers are unlikely to be able to take advantage of this revelation in EV battery technology anytime soon.
