This compact, mass-market EV demonstrates next-generation electric vehicle capability, and offers the industry an alternative to the current reliance on ever-larger batteries by re-imagining the fundamentals of thermal management.

The vehicle meets three ambitious goals that Shell believes can help drive the future of mass-market electric mobility:

• Charge Faster: a sub-10-minute charge time
• Go Further: a 10-km/kWh economy
• Drive Cleaner: 10-tons CO2 footprint in its lifecycle

Unveiled at Horiba Mira’s proving ground in the UK, the concept car is the culmination of Shell’s Triple 10 Challenge. It incorporates a more compact and efficient battery pack design with fewer modules and an advanced thermal fluid, enabling a simplified housing architecture.

All in all, this has helped boost the efficiency to 10 km/kWh (up to 30 percent better than many current-generation BEVs) and a reduction of 25 percent in terms of overall battery pack cost.

The Triple Challenge is also the first road-worthy vehicle to have successfully demonstrated the potential of a simplified, single-circuit cooling architecture to efficiently manage the thermal load of the car’s entire powertrain, even under the most extreme fast-charging scenario in real-world conditions.

The Triple Challenge is able to charge its battery from 10 to 80 percent in 9 minutes 54 seconds, without compromise to thermal stability or lifespan. While some EVs in market today can charge in under 10 minutes, this requires using an ultra-fast charger in excess of 300-kW, which is uncommon. On the other hand, the Triple Challenge is able to attain this on a 175-kW charger, adding 24 kilometers per minute (km/min) in range, compared to typical BEVs at an average 13 km/min range on the same charger; equivalent to almost 90 percent more range added per minute of charge.

Part of the secret is Shell Recharge thermal fluid. Unlike traditional cooling systems that use a water-glycol mix, Shell’s dielectric fluid allows for direct immersion cooling of the battery and powertrain components including the motor and power electronics. In case the tech sounds familiar, it’s a similar one, albeit co-developed with Mobil, in the Porsche Cayenne Turbo Electric.

The Triple 10 Challenge concept car is also estimated to have a lifecycle carbon footprint of approximately 10 tons CO2e. Enabled by its lightweight design, optimized battery capacity, low-carbon and recyclable materials, together with 100 percent renewable electricity for vehicle charging, this is estimated to represent around a 50 percent reduction in lifecycle emissions compared to typical battery electric vehicles in the European market.