
If you’ve been on the fence about making the transition from internal combustion to electric for your next car, the one deal breaker may just be the time it takes to actually charge up your vehicle. While a mileage range upwards of 250 is impressive on certain models, the 30-minute charge time is not. What if you’re going on a long trip? Or running late to work and realized you forgot to charge the battery overnight? UK-based firm Nyobolt has developed a charging technology that can get to full power in under 6 minutes, and the company has used a Lotus Elise-based vehicle to showcase its groundbreaking performance.

To unveil the tech, Nyobolt partnered with engineering firm Callum and designer Julian Thomson, who designed the original Elise some 30 years ago. Thomson returns to the nameplate once again for a revolutionary new project. The Lotus model ceased production back in 2021, so this concept version is a mere evolution of the Elise rather than a reproduction. With a convertible carbon fiber shell, the new ride is 100mm wider and 150mm longer, and sits atop 19-inch wheels.

At 155 miles, the range on the new Nyobolt project is a bit lower than average, but the record-setting charge time is still the best, pound for pound at around double the speed of the next-fastest charging car. And in case you’re skeptical about the longevity of these packs, Nyobolt powered up the vehicle over 2,000 times without any significant performance loss. Even better news is that, once 1MW chargers become available, larger packs can also be made using the same tech in order to power larger vehicles like trucks or buses.

Although it’s not yet revealed if the Lotus Elise will be the vessel of choice for unveiling Nyobolt’s tech, production on the batteries is expected to commence next year. Head over to the company’s website to learn more.