Forget lithium-ion — this graphene-based power pack recharges insanely fast

By Luke Dormehl Published December 27, 2017

Regardless of whether you are simply whiling away the hours on a long journey with your Nintendo Switch or are left unable to work because your iPhone X or MacBook is out of juice, running out of battery charge on the go is pretty darn annoying. That’s where a new new graphene-based fast charging USB-C battery pack, currently sweeping Kickstarter, wants to help. Describing itself as the world’s first portable USB-C power bank which works using graphene-based composite packs, it is smaller than many power packs available on the market, and promises to be able to recharge in just 20 minutes.

It supports charging up to 60W, which means that a battery with a capacity of 6,000mAh can be charged in as little as 20 minutes. You can also quickly charge gadgets with 40W, allowing the iPhone X and iPhone 8 promising to reach a full charge in just 90 minutes, as opposed to the usual three hours. The USB-C connection means that it’s compatible with the power adapters for Nintendo Switch, the MacBook, or Lenovo, Dell, and HP laptops. You can alternatively use a special adapter to get it to work with old laptop chargers or MagSafe adapters.

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Oh, and the smaller internal resistance and superior conductivity of the battery means that the temperature rise is lower than it would be with regular traditional batteries — thereby making it safer. This is underlined by the fact that cell swelling and burning will supposedly never happen with a graphene-based battery.

“The key part of this project is the battery cell,” Wade Lam, the product manager at manufacturer Elecjet, told Digital Trends. “Our partner CellsX has spent 13 years in graphene composite battery R&D.”

If you would like to get your hands on an Apollo USB-C power pack, you can currently place a pre-order on Kickstarter. So far, the project has far exceeded its original $10,000 funding target, with plenty of time left on the clock. Prices start at $59 for a power pack, USB-C to C cable, and instructions. Additional options — with extra adapters — are also available. Shipping is set to take place in March 2018.

So, to recap: Smaller, safer, faster, more convenient. Provided this works as promised, consider us sold!

Former Contributor

I'm a UK-based tech writer covering Cool Tech at Digital Trends. I've also written for Fast Company, Wired, the Guardian…

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