New EV Battery Technology Delivers 500-Mile Range in 12 Minutes

One of the largest puzzles prospective buyers wrestle with before switching to an electric vehicle is range anxiety. Over time, charging networks have gotten much better, but the sluggish charging speed remains a significant hurdle. Tesla’s Superchargers require about 15 minutes to add roughly 175 miles of range to the battery, while a Level 2 home wall charger can need 8 to 10 hours to recharge fully. Even so, you still end up with a top range below 400 miles. In short, the issue is two-sided: constraints on charging speed and limits on battery capacity.

Researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology (KAIST) now say they’ve achieved a breakthrough that addresses both issues simultaneously. Collaborating with the LG-backed Frontier Research Laboratory (FRL), the group developed a novel electrolyte that tackles the persistent problem of dendrite formation in lithium-based battery packs. According to the researchers, the redesigned battery architecture enables packs that charge quicker, provide greater range, and have extended longevity.

Just how much? According to a press release, the batteries can deliver up to 497 miles of range, while the underlying anode–electrolyte advances will allow users to fully recharge the pack in only 12 minutes. Moreover, these batteries should maintain their performance for over 186,400 miles driven. That’s roughly mainstream, at least by Tesla benchmarks. In its 2023 Impact Report, the automaker disclosed that the cells in the Model 3 and Y lose only about 15% of their original capacity after 200,000 miles.

The secret sauce is electrolytes

At the core of KAIST’s recent advance is a change to the anode material and the electrolyte within the battery pack. “It has overcome the biggest barrier to the introduction of lithium-metal batteries for electric vehicles,” said Hee Tak Kim, a professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at KAIST. Researchers have long experimented with replacing the graphite anode with lithium to boost performance, but dendrite growth has been a recurring obstacle that not only degrades battery performance but also risks short circuits during high-capacity charging.

During their work, the team determined that dendrite formation stems from the erratic deposition of inorganic compounds on the lithium anode, a phenomenon commonly referred to as lithium plating. To tackle this, they developed a new medium described in a paper in the Nature Portfolio journal as a “cohesion-inhibiting new liquid electrolyte.” The main function of this specialized electrolyte is to ensure that when ions deposit on the solid lithium anode, they form a consistent surface layer.

The researchers point out that their new electrolyte depends on an anion configuration with a weak binding affinity to lithium ions (Li⁺), which helps curb dendrite formation while enabling rapid charging of the pack. The team assessed the performance of pyran-based electrolytes in pouch cells engineered for high-power and high-energy roles. The former, with an energy density of 321 Wh/kg, took 12 minutes to go from empty to 70% charge. The latter, reaching 386 Wh/kg, hit 80% state of charge (SoC) in 17 minutes.