JFE Engineering Develops Quick Charger for Electric Vehicles

TOKYO July, 5, 2010; Japan Today reported that JFE Engineering Corp has developed a quick battery charger for electric vehicles, allowing a battery to be charged at about half of its capacity in three minutes, company officials said Monday. This represents substantial progress in shortening the charging time as conventional equipment, even those claimed to be quick chargers, often need 30 minutes to charge a battery to about 80% of its capacity.

JFE Engineering’s new charger can charge a battery to 70% of its capacity in five minutes. An official of JFE Engineering said, ‘‘We have shortened the charging time to three minutes, the same amount of time for refueling by gasoline or making a simple purchase.’’ The Tokyo-based engineering firm plans to release the battery charger