120 kW seems a bit low, the Tesla having about a 300 kWe motor, you could go 240 kWe charging. The charging rate for my laptop is similar to the discharging rate at full power.

For fast charging stations, speed is very important. 20 minutes for half a "tank" is quite long compared to <1 minute it takes to fill up a gasoline car completely. Faster charging also means more cars can be charged per station, likely important for the future where a lot of electric cars will be on the road.

There's likely a big business case also for intermediate speed charging. Coupled to a restaurant. People could take a bit and relax for an hour or two, the restaurant makes a lot of money. You'd get discount on your charging cost if you order more in the restaurant. Free charging with a full meal.

acr,

You are confusing peak power with continuous power. 300 kW is peak, 120 kW is continuous.

120 kW is ~1.4C, at the threshold of what Panasonic recommends for their 18650 NCA cells.

Basically, it would mean that if you can't charge for 300 kWe for 10 minutes, then you'll break the car with 10 minutes on a racing track.

"what that means is you'll damage the battery if you drive the Tesla in a sporty fashion most of the time.

Basically, it would mean that if you can't charge for 300 kWe for 10 minutes, then you'll break the car with 10 minutes on a racing track.

You've put your imagination in the driver's seat.

The Model S is not a track car. It will protect its battery by reducing power if driven hard around a track (as owners have confirmed).

Even if it would not do so, you would be hard-pressed to actually achieve 300 kW continuous, since a track has curves for which you have to throttle back. Apart from that, you'll quickly hit the 210 km/h top speed, at which point the Model S's speed limiter kicks in by reducing power.

Please stick to the facts, Tesla engineers are smart enough not to build a car that would destroy itself.

"Please stick to the facts, Tesla engineers are smart enough not to build a car that would destroy itself."

That's my point. If the car can take a few minutes of 300 kWe discharging, it should be able to take a few minutes of charging at that rate.

Though I do note, that Jeremy Clarkson, the lead presenter of Top Gear UK, driving like a lunatic on his track, managed to break multiple Tesla Sportsters early on.

I drive sometimes on the Autobahn in Germany, the high end sedans that the Model S is competing with, are able to work at 200 kW continuously @ 250 kph. Of course the German market is an exception here.

But I do think the model S is well engineered and that's why it should be able to take 300 kW of charging for a short time for a 50% charge from say, 30% to 80% SOC. Consumer battery fast chargers are now available for 15 minute fast charge.

The story from Technology Review indicates that Tesla feels they can go for a 5 minute 50% fast charge in the future. Fast charging tech is developing rapidly. For Li-ion the limit likely becomes the cooling system capacity to prevent the battery from overheating.

Resistance is futile, future extended range BEVs with 120 to 140 kWh battery packs will need 240 KW quick charging stations for a guaranteed 500 Km range.

Those high capacity battery packs will be lighter and smaller than current 85 kWh installed in the Tesla S-85. Improved cooling will have to be used.

Furthermore, cooling is never required during Lithium battery charging, even at 1-2 C, or even at 8 C for battery rated for 8-C charging. Lithium battery has such a low internal resistance that it does not get hot during charging within its rated C limit. The charger, however, requires cooling due to heat production concentrated within a small area. Lithium polymer battery rated at 40 C does not get hot during routine use, since only very briefly is the 40 C discharge is reached, if at all! For example, if a 20 kWh pack is discharged at 40 C, the total current will be 800 kW! Fit for a BEV F-1 racer!