Charging electric vehicles in ten minutes is possible – almost, anyway. There have been many claims about the “fastest” charging options for electric vehicles over the past few months and years, but most relate to battery technologies that are still in the research or prototype phase. This week, Chinese automaker Zeekr made a new claim to the title, albeit for the 800V lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery in the updated 007 sedan, which goes on sale in a few days.

Much like its better-known global Geely siblings Volvo and Polestar, Zeekr is always on the pulse of the latest battery technology. The difference is that the Chinese battery market has a faster pulse.

In 2022, Zeekr became the first automaker to develop a vehicle around CATL’s headline-grabbing Qilin long-range battery. In December 2023, the company announced its own battery development progress, unveiling an LFP battery that is said to be able to charge a range of 500 km (310 miles) in just 15 minutes. A few days later, this 75 kWh “Golden Battery” battery was introduced in the all-new 2024 Zeekr 007 sedan.

Zeekr

Now, nine months later, Zeekr is updating the 2025 007 sedan with a newer version of its battery that promises significantly faster charging. At its Tech Day this week, the company announced that the new battery can be charged at 5.5C, dropping the 10-80% charge time to just 10.5 minutes. That charge time isn’t immune to extreme weather conditions, but Zeekr promises a 30-minute 10-80% charge in temperatures as low as -10°C (14°F).

Zeekr didn’t provide any details on battery capacity or range in its English press release, but according to several reports from China, the upgraded LFP battery retains the same 75kWh capacity as the original, which is enough for a CLTC range of over 680km (422 miles). That means about 480km (298 miles) of range in that 10.5-minute period, bringing EV charging convenience ever closer to the few minutes it takes to fill up a full tank.

Those who want to maximize the range through ultra-fast charging still have the option of ordering the Zeekr 007 2025 with an 870 km (540 mile) CATL Qilin battery.

As for Zeekr’s claims of the fastest speed in the world, the new battery beats the 11min 28sec charge time of the Zeekr 001 with CATL’s 95kWh Shenxing battery in April by about a full minute, and is roughly on par with the 10min 36sec mark achieved by Li Auto’s spherical Mega MPV with a 102kWh CATL Qilin battery in February. That Li Mega mark was documented by a Chinese influencer; Li Auto officially claims a time of 12 minutes to cover the 500km needed to get the Mega from 10 to 80% charge.

At its own technology conference in May, Volkswagen-backed Chinese battery maker Gotion claimed it had a battery that could reach 80 percent charge in 9.8 minutes and was ready for mass production. It also described a second battery with a claimed charge capacity of 600 km/10 minutes (373 miles). However, none of these models were introduced in a production vehicle model at the time.

In the US, Hyundai Motor Group’s fast charging remains the leader, with vehicles like the Hyundai Ioniq 6 and Kia EV6 taking an estimated 18 minutes to reach a 10-80% charge. Motor Trend With the Hyundai Ioniq 6 SE Long Range, the vehicle reached 193 miles (311 km) in 15 minutes at the charging station, comparable to the 322 km (200 miles) per 15 minutes stated by Tesla.

In case it isn’t already clear, the Chinese hold the reins when it comes to pushing the boundaries of electric vehicle development.

An ultra-fast charging battery is only as good as the ultra-fast charging network available to achieve the peak rates required for minimal charging times. Zeekr is further addressing this part of the equation by expanding its ultra-fast 800V network. The company plans to double the 500-station Chinese network by the end of 2024. In addition, the current total number of chargers is expected to more than triple to 10,000 by 2026.

Source: Zeekr