Look out for the new Audi e-tron GT: 80% battery charge in just 12 minutes

One of the big questions a potential user of fully electric cars has is how long the car needs to stay plugged into the charger. We have already mentioned in another article that electric cars may not need such a long range, but charging time is something that worries future buyers of zero-emission cars quite a lot. But that could be about to change with the arrival of a 350 kW supercharger.

This technology is almost ready to be used, but the batteries in cars currently on the market cannot withstand this level of charging. In fact, the Audi e-tron that the German brand has just presented already offers a very attractive charging level, with a charging time of just 30 minutes to reach 80% battery, thanks to the chargers of the Ionity network being installed across Europe. These chargers have a charging capacity of 150 kW, which is far below what this new charging system will offer.

The arrival of the Audi e-tron GT seems set to be the turning point for this type of charging. The four-door coupé will already be equipped with this new generation of batteries capable of using this type of 350 kW supercharger. The model is expected to arrive in 2020, so we won’t have to wait long to see this kind of ultra-fast charging in action.

A 12-minute charge dramatically reduces the time needed to get the battery ready. It is almost like refuelling at a regular petrol station, so we can expect one of the major drawbacks of electric cars to disappear. That said, although the practical applications of this type of fast charging are very interesting, it should be noted that these batteries are fitted to top-of-the-range cars and will not be standard on, for example, the small electric city cars that most ordinary people could afford.