Shell’s New Thermal Fluid: A Game-Changer for Sub-10-Minute EV Charging?

Electric vehicles (EVs) have revolutionized personal and commercial mobility, bringing the promise of zero emissions and cutting-edge technology. However, one of the biggest challenges holding back mass adoption of EVs has been the time it takes to recharge their batteries. Conventional fast-charging systems typically take anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour to charge an EV from 10% to about 80%. But what if that charging time could be drastically reduced to under 10 minutes? Shell, a global leader in energy and lubricants, recently unveiled a breakthrough thermal fluid technology that could make this a reality, paving the way for safer, faster, and more efficient EV charging.

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The Challenge of Fast Charging: Heat Management

Charging an EV’s battery rapidly generates substantial heat. Excessive thermal buildup can damage battery cells, shorten battery lifespan, and in extreme cases, cause safety hazards like thermal runaway, which can lead to fires or explosions. Current battery cooling systems primarily rely on cold plates and air cooling, where cooling is indirect and uneven. This can cause hotspots and inconsistent temperature distribution, limiting how fast the battery can safely charge.

Effective thermal management, therefore, is crucial to pushing beyond current charging speed limits without compromising battery health or safety. Shell’s new thermal fluid technology specifically addresses this problem.

What is Shell’s Thermal Fluid Technology?

Shell’s innovation uses an advanced, electrically non-conductive thermal fluid called EV+ thermal fluid to immerse battery cells directly. Unlike traditional cooling methods that cool cells externally, Shell’s fluid fills every gap within the battery pack, establishing uniform and direct contact with each cell.

This immersion cooling approach provides several key advantages:

Uniform Heat Dissipation: The fluid quickly transfers heat away from all battery cells, avoiding hotspots and thermal gradients.
Higher Charging Currents: With better heat removal, batteries can tolerate much higher charging currents without overheating.
Improved Battery Life and Safety: By reducing thermal stress on cells, the fluid prolongs battery lifetime and reduces risks associated with overheating.
Crash Safety: Because the fluid is non-conductive, it enhances safety in case of battery pack damage, lowering the chance of short circuits or fires.

The fluid is formulated using Shell’s proprietary gas-to-liquid (GTL) technology, ensuring stable thermal and chemical properties suitable for demanding EV battery environments.

Performance Gains: Can We Truly Charge EVs in Under 10 Minutes?

In collaboration with automotive engineering company RML Group, Shell demonstrated the fluid’s capability on a 34 kWh battery pack. Results showed a rapid charge from 10% to 80% in just 10 minutes—a charging speed significantly beyond current commercial chargers.

Scaling this performance to a commercially viable vehicle would translate to:

A highly aerodynamic EV with an efficiency of around 10 km per kWh (a very optimistic figure) gaining about 24 km (14 miles) of range per minute of charging.
This is substantially faster than today’s market leaders, such as the Lucid Air Pure, which manages around 5 miles per kWh.

The potential to add over 80% charge in under 10 minutes could revolutionize EV usage patterns, making charging as quick and convenient as filling a tank of petrol.

Implications for EV Design and Adoption

Smaller, Lighter Batteries: Because of better heat management, manufacturers can design smaller battery packs with higher energy density concentrated in tighter spaces, reducing vehicle weight and cost.
Reduced Charging Infrastructure Strain: Faster charging means less queueing and higher throughput at charging stations, easing urban and highway infrastructure demands.
Increased Consumer Convenience: Sub-10-minute charging can eliminate “range anxiety” by aligning EV refueling times closely with traditional fuel stops.
Enhanced Battery Longevity: By limiting heat damage and thermal wear, Shell’s fluid could extend battery life, reducing total cost of ownership.
Safety Improvements: Immersion cooling combined with the fluid’s non-conductivity may enhance vehicle crash safety and battery fire risk mitigation.

Challenges and Considerations

Weight Addition: Immersion cooling requires the battery pack to house the thermal fluid, which could add weight. Designs must optimize the trade-off between cooling benefits and added mass.
Fluid Compatibility: Shell is exploring compatibility across varying battery chemistries, including lithium-ion and potentially emerging Sodium-ion batteries, though full commercial validation is ongoing.
Manufacturing Integration: The new cooling approach may require redesigns in battery pack assembly, sealing, and maintenance protocols, impacting manufacturing complexity and costs.
Cost and Market Adoption: Automakers and consumers will assess whether charging convenience and battery longevity benefits justify potential upfront costs and technological changes.

Industry Context and Future Outlook

Rapid charging technologies are fiercely competitive fields. CATL, the world’s largest battery maker, showcased its Shenxing Gen 2 fast-charging lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery capable of ultra-fast charging adding over 1.5 miles range per second. However, CATL’s fast charging solutions still require complementary innovations in thermal management to reduce wear.

Shell’s new EV+ thermal fluid, by focusing on battery cell-level thermal regulation through immersion, addresses a bottleneck complementary to advancements in charging hardware and battery chemistry.

As governments worldwide legislate for zero-emission transportation and consumers demand convenience, breakthroughs like Shell’s could be crucial to mainstream EV adoption.

Shell’s technology is scalable across manufacturers and battery types, making it a potentially universal solution to enhance fast charging. Existing automaker collaborations with Shell for lubricants and coolants may help accelerate integration in future EV models.

Conclusion

Shell’s new thermal fluid for EV battery immersion cooling stands out as a promising game-changer in fast charging technology. By enabling efficient heat dissipation directly at the battery cell level, it unlocks the potential for charging from 10% to 80% in under 10 minutes without compromising battery longevity or safety. This innovation tackles one of the biggest barriers to EV adoption—charging speed—and could profoundly impact vehicle design, infrastructure efficiency, and customer convenience.

While challenges such as thermal fluid integration, cost, and manufacturing recalibration remain, the implications for consumer experience and broader adoption are significant. As Shell’s EV+ thermal fluid moves from validation towards commercialization, it could help accelerate the shift to electric mobility worldwide by making ultra-fast charging a practical reality.

In the race for the future of sustainable transportation, Shell’s breakthrough highlights how cross-industry innovation—combining energy, chemistry, and automotive engineering—can drive the electrification revolution forward.