Last year, British startup Nyobolt made a very bold claim. The company has released images of a small electric sports car that can be charged in about six minutes. We raised our eyebrows when we heard that former Jaguar designer Ian Callum’s company was involved in the process, but we were understandably skeptical. Now we are less skeptical. This thing is real, at least as a prototype.
Simply called the Nyobolt EV Prototype, it weighs in at 2,750 pounds and has a WLTP range of 155 miles. That’s not exactly long-range stuff, but the company has already achieved a 10-80 percent charge time of 4 minutes and 37 seconds. That adds 120 miles of range and, according to Nyobolt, is double the fastest charging speeds currently available in production vehicles.
“Our extensive research here in the UK and US has delivered a new battery technology that is now ready and scalable,” said Dr. Sai Shivareddy, co-founder of Nyobolt. “We are enabling the electrification of new products and services that are currently considered infeasible or impossible. Creating real demonstrators, like the Nyobolt EV, underlines both our willingness and our commitment to helping the industry understand that change is possible.”
The battery is a pack of 50 amps and 35 kilowatt hours. That’s quite small in the EV world, but Nyobolt’s design both charges quickly and is extremely resistant to degradation. The company has performed more than 4,000 fast-charging cycles with full discharge, which is equivalent to approximately 900,000 kilometers in real-world use. In the end, the battery pack still had more than 80 percent of its capacity. In other words, there’s no need for a big, heavy battery when you can charge a smaller one for free in just a few minutes.
That adds to the prototype’s heft, though it’s not the lightest electric sports car we’ve ever seen. Last year, Caterham unveiled the Project V, a 2,623-lb, three-seater prototype sports car with 268 horsepower and a 55-kWh battery. Production is scheduled for late 2025 or 2026, so stats could vary from the prototype to the final model. But Caterham and Nyobol are showing the world that fun electric cars don’t have to be insanely heavy. Are you listening, BMW?
Nyobolt isn’t listing horsepower for its prototype. It’s unclear if there are any plans for production at all. The company is using it as a demonstrator, trying to convince carmakers with impressive battery technology. On that front, Nyobolt says several OEMs are already interested. While it’s still technically in the prototype phase, low-volume production of the battery packs for road or track use could begin within a year.