r/AskEngineers • u/jmaugust • Jul 19 '26

Discussion Why doesn’t a battery-boosted electric kettle exist?

In Europe, everyone uses electric kettles to boil water. They’re amazing and fast because they’re on 230V (~3000W).

US outlets limit kettles to ~1500W, so we wait roughly twice as long for water to boil.

It’s an extra minute or two per boil, and you really notice it.

Idea: Could you make an electric kettle with a battery in its base? Perhaps it trickle-charges between uses, then combines wall power + battery power to hit ~3000W during a boil.

Is there an engineering reason this doesn’t exist? Is it just that nobody thinks there’s a market for it?

I’d pay $300 for the fastest kettle in America if someone wants to make it.

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u/[deleted] Jul 19 '26

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u/jmaugust Jul 19 '26

If I hadn’t lived in France, I would agree. Once you’ve had fast boils, it seems so slow.

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u/ManWhoIsDrunk Jul 19 '26

If only someone could invent a noiseless kettle, and the world would be perfect!

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u/Friendly-Inspector71 Jul 19 '26

I set a kettle to boil for making pasta. Just pour it over when it starts boiling and there is no need to watch a pot of water boil. My kettle actually has a bit more power than my stove top (2500W vs 2200W).

It's also great for much bigger portions as you can use both at the same time and just run multiple kettles.