Polestar demonstrates that a charge from 10 to 80 percent in just 10 minutes is possible

Using a prototype of its future electric saloon, the Polestar 5, the Swedish manufacturer has publicly shown the charging capabilities that the production version will have once it finally reaches the market. To do so, the company has teamed up with StoreDot, with the aim of using its Extreme Fast Charging technology.

The high charging powers promised by StoreDot thanks to its XFC technology have indeed been achieved, with the battery pack of this Polestar 5 prototype rising from 10 to 80 percent in just 10 minutes. That is little more than what it would take to fill the tank at a conventional petrol station with a combustion-engine vehicle.

The Swedish manufacturer completed the demonstration by publishing the charging curve of the Polestar 5 prototype. It shows not only that the curve remains consistent throughout the entire charging session, but also that it starts at a power of 310 kW and later exceeds 370 kW. Something never seen before in any electric vehicle currently on sale.

Nothing will ever be the same again

Once the test was finished, Thomas Ingenlath, the current CEO of the Swedish firm, stated that time is currently one of life’s luxuries that cannot be wasted. As a manufacturer of high-performance premium electric vehicles, Polestar is therefore obliged to try to eliminate one of the main barriers slowing the transition to electric mobility. And this is none other than the anxiety some drivers feel about having to recharge.

With this technology, Ingenlath pointed out, on long journeys it will not be unusual for the time needed for a break to be longer than the time actually available until the charge is complete. The Polestar 5 prototype used in these tests has a battery pack with a capacity of 77 kWh. According to the manufacturer, however, this capacity could increase in the near future to over 100 kWh. In this way, it would be possible to recover more than 300 km of range in just 10 minutes of charging.