Video: MIT working on rapid recharging for electric vehicles

by Vladislav Savov, posted Jul 23rd 2009 at 7:43AM

MIT's electric vehicle prototype may be a long way off from being completed, but if we let that stop us from discussing EVs, we might never talk about them. The headline ambition of this project is a full recharge within 10 minutes, which would eliminate somewhere between four and ten hours of waiting. Speedwise, the Electric Vehicle Team is aiming for a 100 mph top speed from a 250-horsepower / 187 kilowatt AC induction motor, and anot unheard of 200-mile cruising range. To achieve their rapid juicing ambition, the students will strap 7,905 lithium iron-phosphate cell batteries fromA123Systems to a gutted 2010 Mercury Milan Hybrid body. The batteries' low internal resistance is what makes things possible, but further hurdles, such as finding a sufficiently powerful energy source, would have to be overcome before any sort of widespread use may occur. Video after the break.

[Via PC World]