Tesla will upgrade Superchargers to faster V3

is rolling out faster Supercharging to cut down charging times. The new system it calls V3 Supercharging will enable fastest charging on the market, according to Tesla.

V3 Supercharging is based on a new 1mW power cabinet, which supports peak rates of up to 250kW per car, up from earlier 120kW. Using a

Model 3

Long Range as an example, the car can gain 75 miles of range in just five minutes, with a per-hour charge rate of up to 1,000 miles (were the car able to hold such a charge). Thanks to other improvements Tesla is also rolling out, including On-Route Battery Warmup, average charge times can be halved and the number of served customers doubled.

Tesla says the V3 stations will give full charging power to any owner, without splitting power with the next vehicle also at the station at the same time — and as a result, a typical charge time can drop to around 15 minutes.

Regarding On-Route Battery Warmup, it ensures the battery temperature is optimal for charging when the owner navigates to a Supercharging station. Tesla says this will reduce average charging times by 25%.

However, it will take a while for V3 to come online: The first V3 Supercharging site is a beta-test location in the Bay Area, available for Tesla’s Early Access customers, and the first non-beta location will break ground next month. More will become available in this year’s second and third quarter, with Europe and Asia-Pacific regions following by the end of the year.

As for older charging infrastructure, there are currently over 12,000 V2 Superchargers, which will be unlocked for 145kW charge rates in the coming weeks.