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Fill 'er up! Nissan working on 10-minute rapid charger for electric vehicles

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One of the major drawbacks of electric vehicles – aside from limited range – is lengthy recharge times. Stopping for a quick fill is the norm with fossil-fueled vehicles, but not so with plug-ins. Nissan is working on a solution to the problem, though: a ten-minute charger.

Nissan's revolutionary rapid charger is being developed in conjunction with Kansai University in Osaka, Japan. Nissan and Kansai University discovered that by switching the electrode in a carbon capacitor to tungsten oxide and vanadium oxide, they could increase the charger's output by leaps and bounds, allowing for a zero-to-80-percent-capacity recharge in roughly ten minutes.

Unfortunately, Nissan says it may take up to a decade to perfect this rapid-charge technology and to make it available at the consumer level. Will ten-minute charging be just what everyone wants ten years from now? Let us know in Comments below.

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