Students at MIT are working on a project that will take electric cars into the same league as their gasoline powered counterparts. The intention is to create an electric car that can rival performance of gasoline powered cars. The figures they are looking at are a top speed of 161kmph, capacity similar to a family sedan, a range of 320 kilometers, power at 250 hp, and most importantly, a charging time in the neighborhood of 10 minutes.
Now that electric cars have more or less overcome the performance huddle that blocked their path, another challenge is to overcome long charging durations. Typically, many electric vehicles have to be charged overnight to reach full capacity, but with the recharging times substantially lowered, the vehicles could gain more popularity.
Their project is based off a 2010 Mercury Milan hybrid and will likely use lithium iron-phosphate cell batteries to supply juice.
Via: PC World/ MIT EVT/ Network World
