This Air-Cooled Battery Changes What Fast Charging Means For Electric Bikes
- The Vergeβs motorcycle has an 18 kWh capacity and supports fast charging.
- A recent test shows the Donut Lab battery sitting at over 100 kW while charging.
- Crucially, the motorcycleβs battery is air-cooled, rather than being liquid-cooled.
Electric motorcycles havenβt gained widespread acceptance to the same extent as electric cars. However, with solid-state battery packs now just around the corner, the motorbike industry is on the precipice of a revolution, one which could be led by Verge Motorcycles and Finnish firm Donut Lab.
Verge unveiled its new TS Pro electric two-wheeler earlier this year, promising up to 186 miles (299 km) of range in as little as 10 minutes when plugged into a 200 kW NACS charger. Eager to show the world just how quickly the bike can charge, Donut Lab conducted a live test at a public charging station as part of the companyβs ongoing series to address the critics.
Read: Donut Labβs Solid-State Battery Lost Just 2.3% Charge In 10 Days As Critics Watch
The model from Verge Motorcycles in this test is a previous-generation model thatβs been upgraded with the latest Donut Lab battery pack. It has a capacity of 18 kWh, and the test showed peak charging rates of over 100 kW, allowing it to charge from 10-70 percent in a touch over 9 minutes, and then 10-80 percent in 12 minutes.
According to Donut Lab, the battery pack charges three times faster than Vergeβs previous-generation pack. On the surface, having a battery pack that charges at a touch over 100 kW may not seem very impressive, particularly compared to some 1,500 kW charging systems being deployed by Chinese brands like BYD, Geely, and Zeekr.
An Air-Cooled Battery
However, itβs important to note that electric cars capable of extraordinarily fast charging use liquid cooling systems to prevent the battery pack from overheating. By comparison, Vergeβs battery is air-cooled, which is why the charging rates arenβt as high. Donut Lab also says its battery will charge more quickly once Verge fully optimizes it.
βThis is the first test we have published to a wider audience that demonstrates the performance and behaviour of multiple battery cells in a real vehicle environment,β Donut Lab chief technology officer Ville Piippo said. βThe high energy density of our battery technology enables flexible battery pack design and superior performance even in more challenging applications, such as motorcycles, where space is limited and system simplicity is key.β