There are a lot of different priorities that the entire EV battery supply chain, from raw material suppliers, manufacturers, designers and new technology researchers must balance when creating a future of transportation that is rapidly becoming the present.

Versatility, affordability, ease of access to materials, the energy requirements to process those materials into a usable battery, safety, size and weight are all considerable factors when producing a battery, but at the highest end of the market, there is a fundamental question at the core of battery design.

Does the future of EV battery design involve batteries with huge capacities or does it involve smaller batteries that can charge as quickly as it takes a conventional petrol or diesel car to refuel?

In other words, should the priority of battery manufacturers be based on infrastructure or should it prioritise times when charging infrastructure might not be available or optimal? Which would have the greatest effect on tackling range anxiety, arguably the greatest barrier to ownership of EVs?

The Five-Minute Charge

In June 2024, UK battery startup Nyobolt made waves when they demonstrated a battery that could be charged from ten per cent to 80 per cent in less than five minutes.

Whilst it must be noted that this equated to a range of around 120 miles for the sports car it was fitted to, it was still four times faster than a current ultra-fast charger, and comparable to a typical trip to the petrol pump.

Perhaps more importantly, these rapid charges come without the risk of overheating, which is often a limiting factor when it comes to high-speed charging.

Whilst this could on the surface be seen less as a priority and more as a nice to have, and indeed many of the car manufacturers Nyobolt are in talks with a focus on sports cars and supercars, where lightness and speed trumps practicality, there is a potential case for less exotic uses of the technology.

If the charging infrastructure is as fast, ubiquitous and reliable as petrol stations, people will be far more willing to accept a lower-range vehicle that can charge quickly, particularly since this would mean a smaller battery and thus lower-cost vehicles.

For a lot of commuters and people travelling for day trips, the average range of an electric battery is enough to no longer be a limiting factor the way it used to be.

Gone are the days of the 15-mile capacity of the Sinclair C5 or the alleged 40-mile capacity of the Reva G-Wiz; the average range of an EV is around 240 miles. This is creeping closer to the range of an average petrol car with a full tank.

This means that the main limiting factor when it comes to range anxiety is not necessarily the batteries themselves but the experience of charging them, and access to charging stations.

Does Range Matter?

At the same time, it would be somewhat disingenuous to claim that electric battery range does not matter at all, even in a world where charging is the same level of inconvenience as a flying five-minute pit stop.

Charging infrastructure has improved both in quality and quantity, but there are still significant disparities in where charging stations are installed, and there are plenty of “charger deserts” where charging infrastructure is either in short supply or leaves a lot to be desired.

Whilst a future might be filled with high-speed chargers with the capacity per hour to rival a petrol station, in the present, there are enough concerns about accessibility and availability to give potential buyers pause, and this makes long-range vehicles more vital.

A lot of potential buyers, when given the option of an electric car that can charge in a few minutes but is limited to just over 100 miles or an electric car that takes hours to charge but can drive 450 or even 500 miles on a single charge, a lot of people would take the latter.

The reason for that is a simple matter of choice; if you can make a lengthy commute and come back to a charging station at home, the charging station limits become irrelevant, and it also gives you more options when the range does indeed start to dwindle.

All of this could change in the future as electric vehicles continue their march towards ubiquity, and a new battery technology paradigm could change the priorities of current and future owners of EVs if they reach the point where more of them are on the road than petrol or diesel cars.

It also may end up being a matter of taking both options, with some cars offering low-cost electric motoring and quick charges, whilst long-range endurance models have been proposed for vehicles such as cross-country lorries.