Is this the key to faster charging? British Nyobolt sports car could be the most important EV you can’t buy

July 5, 2024July 5, 2024 John Mahoney 9520 Views battery, Nyobolt, Range

British electric car start-up Nyobolt has claimed it has set a new benchmark for EV fast charging after its latest sports car concept took just 4 minutes and 37 seconds for a 10-80 per cent top-up.

The unofficial record was set by Cambridge-based Nyobolt using a 350kW DC charger.

As well as being super-quick to top-up, the British firm says its new power packs are long-lasting, with the prototype capable of withstanding more than 4000 full fast-charge cycles that are equivalent to 600,000 miles (966,000km) of driving.

Impressively, after the equivalent of 48 years’ worth of driving (20,000km per year) the little Nyobolt batteries still retained 80 per cent of their original capacity. That’s-well beyond what current tech achieves.

Nyobolt claims it has leveraged next-generation patented carbon and metal oxide anode materials, innovative low impedance cell design, integrated power electronics and software controls to create its power dense battery and charging systems.

Nyobolt’s technology builds on a decade of battery research led by University of Cambridge battery scientists Professor Clare Grey CBE and Dr Sai Shivareddy, who are te co-founders of Nyolbolt.

Even though the new Nyobolt batteries are claimed to overtake existing tech it is worth pointing out that the record top-up involved a relatively small 35kWh battery that only offered a total WLTP range of 250km.

That means, in real terms, a 10-80 per cent charge only added around 200km of range.

Compare that with the 2025 Lotus Emeya super sedan that comes equipped with a much larger 102kWh battery. It recently recorded a 14-minute 10-80 per cent top-up using a 400kW charger, adding as much as 472km of range in that time period.

At that high-rate of charge it’s thought the bigger Lotus sedan might be capable of adding 200km of range in less than five minutes as the charging rate is highest early in the charging cycle.

Nyobolt says it hopes that its concept of employing smaller batteries capable of supercharging will catch on as smaller lighter power packs means other parts such as e-motors, and inverters can be downsized too, saving yet more mass and boosting efficiency.

Nyobolt prototype British sports car with Dr Sai Shivareddy .

As an example, the prototype Nyobolt sports car weighs just 1250kg, which is 115kg lighter than the most basic combustion-powered Porsche 718 Cayman with a 2.0-litre turbo flat-six engine.

Nyobolt says it is speaking to eight car-makers about licensing its new tech, but will first deploy its batteries later this year in robotics.

If you’re interested in a production version of the concept itself, Nyobolt says that the small two-seater was created in cooperation with ex-Jaguar design boss, Ian Callum’s design and engineering consultancy

It has been conceived for low-volume production, whether that’s for road or track use.