Quantum-Charged Electric Cars

Amidst the race for clean energy output, electric vehicles (EVs) are taking a favorable spin around the globe. As a greener option compared to diesel and gas powered engines, a new generation has popped up, preferring to drive solely on electrically charged engines.

However, the day to day maintenance of such an engine can be cumbersome. According to reporter Martin M. Barillas in a newsweek.com article, cars “may take as long as 10 hours to fully charge at home, while even superchargers at charging stations take 30–40 minutes to provide a full charge.”

With such a long wait paired against minimal driving time, the curve towards drivers who prefer electric vehicles remains stunted. However, brand new battery technology may soon put EVs back on the leaderboard as keys to a green future.

“Scientists at Korea's Institute for Basic Science (IBS)... [have discovered] new quantum technologies that can quickly charge batteries. They drew inspiration from a 2012 study, which proposed the quantum battery concept and theorized that quantum resources such as entanglement may charge batteries at a vastly faster rate by charging all cells in a battery simultaneously,” the Newsweek article explains.

Currently, electric car batteries cannot be charged all at once, and the need to refill them one at a time is the main source of pacing issues. With the quantum batteries, not only would this issue be erased, but charging would be exponentially faster.

“A team of scientists from the Center for Theoretical Physics of Complex Systems at IBS… found that unlike classical batteries (e.g., lithium-ion batteries), where maximum charging speeds increase according to the number of cells, quantum batteries with global operation may achieve quadratic scaling in charging speed.

“[A]s quantum batteries increase in size, charging times become faster. For example, when going from 1 to 2, instead of increasing by a factor of 2, it increases by a factor of 4, and when going from 1 to 10, it increases by a factor of 100.”

With this supercharged factoring, a normal at-home charge would be reduced from double digit hours to just a few minutes, while wait times at public charging stations would go down to mere seconds. And if such technology succeeds, it could be utilized for purposes outside travel.

“Quantum charging may be used someday in consumer electronics as well as in fusion power plants, which need large bursts of energy for instant charging and discharging. However, the researchers caution that quantum technologies still need years of research before they can be introduced to revolutionize energy use and green technologies.”

It may take some time yet for quantum technology to be thoroughly researched and approved, but if enough dedicated people join the team to make it a reality, these batteries could come sooner than we hope.

Capitol Tech offers many opportunities in engineering, where you can join the pursuit to make electric car batteries sustainable and quick to power.

To learn more about these programs, visit captechu.edu and explore the various fields of study offered. Many courses are available both on campus and online. For more information, contact admissions@captechu.edu.