Toshiba's New Lithium-Ion Battery Can be Recharged in Six Minutes

We’ve all heard about rapid-recharge solutions, some promising, some snake oil. But this one has promise and the support of a mega-conglomerate. Cue the hype machine.

Toshiba’s next-gen SCiB lithium-ion batteries include a new anode material – titanium niobium oxide – which doubles the anode capacity. According to the company, this new material enables a full battery recharge after only six minutes, giving prospective compact electric vehicles (EV) a drive range of 320 km (198.8 miles). This would triple the range possible with existing lithium-ion batteries.

But that’s not all – anyone with experience recharging lithium-ion batteries (which is to say, all of us) knows how temperamental they get after a finite number of recharge cycles. But Toshiba’s new titanium niobium oxide anode battery supposedly retains over 90% of its initial capacity after being put through 5,000 charge/discharge cycles.

“Rather than an incremental improvement, this is a game changing advance that will make a significant difference to the range and performance of EV,” said Dr. Osamu Hori, Director of Corporate Research & Development Center at Toshiba Corporation. “We will continue to improve the battery’s performance and aim to put the next-generation SCiBTM into practical application in fiscal year 2019.”

The new material also allows for cold-weather operation, with a full recharge in temperatures down to minus 10°C in only 10 minutes.