Purdue prototypes new EV fast-charge cable

A new charging station cable designed by a Purdue University research team could enable an electric vehicle (EV) battery to be recharged in under five minutes, comparable to filling an average passenger vehicle's fuel tank at a gas station. The patent-pending technology “addresses a better thermal management scheme for EV charging cables based on the principles of sub-cooled flow boiling. This would enable ultra-fast charging of EVs by the safe passage of much higher electrical currents through the cable,” said V.S. Devahdhanush, a Purdue University Ph.D. candidate and research project team member.

The Purdue team's prototype charging station cable is designed to dissipate heat as electrical current flows through the cable. In comparison to the cable used by Tesla on its Supercharger V3 - currently considered the fastest charger in the U.S. market - the prototype cable delivers 4.68 times the current, according to Devahdhanush. The Tesla V3 supercharging architecture supports peak charging rates up to 250 kW per car.