Petrolheads will immediately recognize this Nyobolt EV Concept as the contemporary version of the original Lotus Elise. Unsurprisingly, this little battery-powered roadster was designed by Julian Thomson, the same man who styled the original version. But instead of lap times, the promised charging time of six minutes stands out, or half the waiting time of the currently fastest-charging EVs.

This modern take on the Elise is a collaboration between the Cambridge-based tech company Nyobolt and Callum, the design agency of automotive designer Ian Callum (ex-Jaguar and Land Rover), who enrolled Thomson to sketch the new version. The car is a fully functional test bed for future battery development.

2 000 cycles

As charging speed remains an essential threshold for EV adoption, Nyobolt wants to prove that it shouldn’t longer be a limiting factor. The lithium-ion battery pack uses patented tungsten anodes capable of slashing charging times to “a few minutes”. That’s for a full charge, which renders a range of 250 kilometers.

The company adds that more than 2 000 charging cycles are possible without performance losses and that after ten years of research, its scientists brought the charging process down to its essential components.

But, as with many of these revolutionary, there are a few catches. Firstly, with 35 kWh, the battery pack is one of the smallest on the market. A deliberate choice to keep the weight down (rather one than two tons, according to the official statement) and less impactful concerning carbon emissions during production, but also much less time-consuming to refill.

Megawatt charging

Another prerequisite is that the Nyobolt Concept reportedly demands 1 MW charging to attain its record charging times. These are three times more powerful than today’s fastest superchargers. Sy, they crunch the downtime considerably. But that’s charging technology, not batteries, at play.

Currently, the fastest EVs in mass-production charge in twenty minutes at one-third of one megawatt. That’s 80% instead of full length, while the last bit takes the most time. Also, though megawatt charging is pushed forward as a turnkey solution for long-haul electrical trucking, the grid-related challenges and implied costs are far from a given.

However, fully functional concept cars like the Nyobolt EV help to move the goalposts. And the package is quite appealing. Though no final word on production, Nyobolt claims that the car is “manufacturable and scalable right now”.