The Polestar 5 is getting ready to revolutionise the market: it will be able to cover 160 kilometres with just five minutes of charging

One of the major problems that electric cars tend to have is the charging time required to continue the journey with confidence. More high-capacity chargers are needed so that the time it takes to fully charge the battery does not become excessively long. But now, it seems that the Polestar 5 is set to bring a development that could make this problem disappear or, at least, reduce it considerably.

The Swedish company is working with StoreDot, a battery specialist, and together they have announced the possibility of having a fast-charging battery. With it, it is expected that only about five minutes of connection will be needed to recover 160 kilometres of range.

In this case, the battery anodes would be made from silicon, which will allow the different components of the cells to be thinner. This not only achieves better energy management but also better heat dissipation.

The development of this technology has been under way since 2022, so relevant results have already been obtained for implementation in a production vehicle. In principle, this will be the Polestar 5, a model that will be presented in a few months. It will feature this technology and will serve as a test bed to demonstrate that, little by little, the waiting time to charge the battery can be reduced considerably.

And the improvement is not limited to those 160 kilometres in just five minutes of charging. It is expected that by 2028 that charging time will be reduced to just three minutes. And the projected progress keeps going, since by 2032 it is expected that enough charge can be added to cover that distance in just two minutes.

The project is still in the testing phase. This means that it has not yet been definitively integrated into electric cars, although this is expected to happen soon. For now, it is known that the Polestar 5 will be the chosen model and that the batteries have up to 90% nickel content.

In addition, a cell configuration has been adopted, with cells measuring 56 centimetres, featuring a Z-shaped fold. The separators are arranged in a zig-zag pattern, which reduces stress inside the battery. This composition allows for better temperature management, thereby reducing the risk of fires, a major concern with this type of vehicle.