Tesla launches Supercharger to recharge car in less than 20 minutes

Tesla Model S electric sedans are recharged at the first Michigan Supercharger station in St. Joseph, Mich, Wednesday, Dec.11, 2013. Tesla Inc. is building fast-charging stations for its electric vehicles in Atlantic Canada, opening up the East Coast to road trippers with the California automaker's high-end plug-in cars. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, The Herald-Palladium, Don Campbell)

Tesla has unveiled the third-generation version of its Supercharger charging station, designed to power up electric vehicles as quickly as possible.

This V3 model, which has the same appearance as its predecessors, supports peak rates of up to 250kW per car. At this rate, a Model 3 can potentially recover up to 120km of charge in just five minutes. A full charge could thus take less than 20 minutes. The aim is to cut charging time by around 50 percent compared to previous charging stations, further boosting mobility. A first public beta site is set to open in the US followed by a wider-scale roll-out due this year.

Tesla is also introducing a new feature called "On-Route Battery Warmup," intelligently heating the battery to the optimal temperature for charging, saving users a few precious minutes.

Only the latest-generation batteries used in the Model 3 and the future Model Y will be able to benefit from this ultra-fast charging. The Model S and X are, however, in line for software updates to boost charging speeds.

Tesla boasts over 12,000 charging stations in North America, Europe and Asia. Now, more than 99 percent of the U.S. population is covered by the Tesla network, with similar coverage anticipated for Europe by the end of 2019.