With Tesla's Supercharger fast charging network, Tesla vehicles can now be charged faster than any other currently available electric car.
That status comes courtesy of eight new Version 3 Superchargers that the company opened at its Fremont, California, factory, which can charge a Model 3 at up to 250 kilowatts. That can give the car, which is rated at 3.86 miles per kilowatt-hour (or 130 mpg equivalent, for a typical Long Range Model 3,) up to 180 miles of charge in as little as 15 minutes.
Of course, it comes with a few caveats, primarily that it only works for the Model 3, and only for drivers who are within range of those eight Superchargers in Fremont. The company opened the Superchargers to some Tesla drivers in its Early Access test program in March, but as of Friday it has enabled any Tesla driver to use them.
Tesla plans to begin rolling out the fast Version 3 Superchargers across the country.
Other Tesla models still get a faster charge on the new Version 3 Superchargers, just not as fast. With both lower charging speeds and lower efficiency ratings (fewer miles from the same number of kilowatt-hours), the Model S can refill about 130 miles in 15 minutes, and the Model X about 115. That's still faster than cars can recharge at standard (V2) Supercharger stations.
Tesla's goal, the company said in a blog post, is to reduce wait times at existing Supercharger stations by charging each car more quickly. (The company has also instituted new idle-time fees for cars that remain parked and plugged in at Superchargers once their batteries are full.)
Other networks include even faster chargers, such as Electrify America and EVgo, both of which have installed several 350-kw DC fast chargers on their networks. However, no other cars today are designed to accept such a fast charge. The fastest, so far, is the Audi E-tron quattro, which can charge at a maximum of 150 kilowatts.
The first new electric car that will be able to take advantage of the new 350-kilowatt speed will likely be the Porsche Taycan, which is due out at the end of the year. In the meantime, Model 3 owners can rejoice that their cars can charge faster than any other car on the road—as long as they're in Fremont.