A full charge of your electric vehicle in under 20 minutes; Imagine that!

Tesla has unveiled the third-generation version of its Supercharger charging station, designed to power up electric vehicles as quickly as possible. The new model, which is aesthetically similar to its previous models, will be able to support peak rates of up to 250kW per car. For comparison, the first version of its Supercharger had a capacity of 120kW. With the new rate, a Tesla Model 3 can potentially recover up to 120km of charge in just five minutes! This means that a full charge will only take about 20 minutes or less, thus cutting charge time by about 50% compared to their previous charging stations, effectively boosting mobility.

The caveat in all this however is that only the Model 3 and the upcoming Model Y, which is set to be unveiled next week at a VIP event in LA, will be able to benefit from this ultra fast charging speed. The model X and S are instead in line for a software update in order to boost charging speeds.

Tesla boasts over 12000 charging stations in North America, Europe and Asia. Don’t get your hopes up on Tesla setting up shop on our shores any time soon though.

Greentech CEO, Ahmad Hadri said in 2017 that Malaysia needed to create the right environment so that manufacturers of EVs and hybrids could thrive.

“Tesla asked us three questions. First of all, whether there is preferential treatment for EVs. Secondly, do we have the ecosystem, and thirdly, does green technology have good visibility and awareness among the public,” said Ahmad Hadri.

He added that while the last two criteria had been addressed in some form or other, the first was the most challenging. With governments around the world working hard to reduce emissions from vehicles, Malaysia would do well not to be left behind.