Lotus’ new EV charger can add up to 142km in five minutes

Instead of unveiling a new lightweight sportscar or fully electric sedan, Lotus has pulled back the covers on a new “ultra-fast” EV charger that can supply enough battery charge in five minutes for an EV to drive from Auckland to Cambridge.

The inspiration for creating the new charger was to cure one of the biggest barriers to EV adoption, that being people’s patience when it comes time to juice up an electric car.

As part of its solution to this problem, the British brand has developed a three-piece charging solution that includes an all-in-one DC charger (the fast one), as well as a power cabinet and charging unit package, each of which is liquid-cooled.

With regard to the all-in-one unit, it offers charging up to 450kW; hence the astounding range addition after being hooked up for just five minutes. Lotus recorded said figure using its Eletre R, so other vehicles may not benefit to quite the same degree.

The somewhat bulkier power cabinet and charging unit on the other hand can supply up to 480kW and charge up to four vehicles at once, making it the perfect solution for motorway rest stops.

Lotus has already put its new chargers into use across China and plans to roll them out in most European countries and the Middle East by the middle of 2024. It’ll also advise folk when they’ve installed their high power chargers in other markets.

“Over the past six years, Lotus has been investing in the technology and infrastructure to accelerate the transition to electrification. We want to make it easier than ever to own an electric vehicle and with our latest offerings Lotus is able to provide customers with the confidence to access easy, fast, and efficient charging,” says Mike Johnstone, Chief Commercial Officer at Lotus.

In New Zealand, the fastest publically available EV charger is ChargeNet’s 300kW hypercharger which can add about 100km in 5 minutes.