Zap&Go have developed a rapid-charge carbon-ion cell at its Oxford laboratory. The British start-up has produced the battery which is capable of charging within a matter of seconds.

The carbon-ion pack uses a power pack alongside a cordless device for direct power transfer. The developers were recently awarded €1.43m in funding from the EU Horizon 2020 programme.

Stephen Voller, Zap&Go’s CEO, said: “We have successfully demonstrated how to reduce recharge times from hours, to five minutes with our carbon-ion cells … and ‘instant charging’ represents the next stage of the development of our technology.

“Since we have the technology to charge a cordless drill in 15 seconds, we expect to be able [to] similarly improve EV charging rates, thereby solving one of the main obstacles to making EVs the new standard.”

In a feasibility study, Zap&Go established consumer interest in cordless tools. Interest was also indicated in commitments from OEMs for joint development agreements.

Though the current models only carry small amounts of chargeable power, Zap&Go hopes to use the grant to develop existing prototype cordless tools, including vacuum cleaners and power drills, as well as building units to conduct customer trials.

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