Tesla Motors Club

I've been pondering the increased charge speed that cuts charging times in half even though the power increase from 90 to 120kW is obviously not a doubling. One possibility is pulse charging. I remember a talk by battery researcher Jay Whitacre, (founder of Aquion Energy), and he discussed how pulse charging might have benefits for lithium ion cells. When charging a cell the lithium ions need time to intercalate into the crystalline structure, higher currents forcing more ions in means some of them bounce around and cause a "traffic jam" of sorts. Think of taking a bunch of billiard balls and rolling them all at once to the same pocket, one or two might go in but the rest bounce back. If you take the same balls but shoot them rapidly one after another at the same hole they'll all go in quickly. I think pulse charging might allow similar behavior for the lithium ions and increase charging speed without artificially and prematurely raising voltage. Another possible benefit to pulse charging is a reduction of lithium plating if I remember correctly. Supercharging might actually be good for your pack.
Maybe.