Ford cable can recharge an electric car in just five minutes

DETROIT: Researchers from Ford and Purdue University have developed a patent-pending charging cable for electric cars.

The idea is to facilitate the switch to electric vehicles by making it possible to recharge them in almost the time it takes to fill a tank with gas, and it's all thanks to a revolutionary cooling process.

The goal of this research is to make electric vehicle charging much faster. From 30 minutes on an ultra-fast charging station to a whole night on a domestic socket, it takes time to fully charge an electric car.

But what if one day - in a few years' time - it could take as little as five minutes? This time saving could encourage more motorists to switch to all-electric vehicles.

In order to charge faster, more current has to flow through the charging cable, but this, unfortunately, comes with a risk of overheating.

Indeed, this excess heat must be removed in order to keep the cable operational.

That's why researchers at Purdue University, Indiana, have developed an alternative cooling method for this new type of charging cable.

The cable uses a liquid as an active coolant, which helps extract heat from the cable by changing phase from liquid to vapour. As a result, any overheating is eliminated and the electrical current can flow faster and more safely.

Once patented, the next step for Ford will be to test a prototype of this cable to determine specific charging speeds for different vehicle models.

Although it will certainly not be marketed for several years, this new kind of cable could play a significant role in simplifying electric charging.