- Lotus introduces an ultra-fast charger that recovers 150 km of range in five minutes.
When it comes to recharging electric vehicles, two factors most help determine how much time it takes to recover charge: the vehicle’s charging capacity, and the capacity of the charging station.
Generally, when automakers provide time estimates for charging EVs, they’re talking about recovering 10 to 80 percent on a 350-kW fast-charging station. The higher the capacity of that station, the shorter the recharging time.
Lotus, which has committed to becoming a purely electric brand by 2028, is investing in charging infrastructure to help ease the electric transition for motorists.
Out of that investment has come a just-announced DC fast-charging stations, some of which have already been installed in China. Now, Lotus doesn’t have its own charging-station network like Tesla does, but it is working with fleets, dealers and companies that operate charging stations to install its new fast-charging stations in strategic locations.
The company stresses its stations can be used by electric vehicles of all brands, and it aims to have them installed in the majority of European countries and in parts of the Middle East by the second half of 2024. Details are still to confirmed for North America.
With a capacity of 450 kW, these charging stations are more powerful than the vast majority of those currently on the market.
150 km of range in five minutes
On a 450-kW terminal, Lotus's new electric SUV, the Eletre R (the R version being the most upmarket in the range), can regain some 150 km of range in just five minutes, which starts to be not that much longer than gassing up an ICE vehicle at a gas station.
To boost battery charge level from 10 to 80 percent takes 20 minutes.
Chargers offering 350 kW of power have also been developed and can provide almost 130 km of range in five minutes, says Lotus.
