There's About To Be A New Quickest-Charging EV In America

Mercedes just claimed the EV fast-charging crown in America. Now the charging network needs to catch up.

Photo by: Mercedes-AMG

Rob Stumpf

By: Rob Stumpf

May 21, at 2:25pm ET

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The new Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door Coupe can charge from 10% to 80% in just 11 minutes.
This claims the crown of fastest-charging EV sold in the U.S.
There's a catch, though. You'll need a properly powerful charger to reach those speeds.

Range anxiety has been a long-standing enemy of the electric car. Part of that is the actual range that the vehicle will cover on a single charge, and the other is how long it will take to recharge once that car is plugged in. EVs have come a long way, though—now they have bigger batteries, longer range, and fairly manageable charging times.

And now, the new Mercedes-AMG GT unveiled this week is upping the ante considerably. Meet the new king of fast charging in America.

According to Mercedes' own figures, the AMG GT 4-Door Coupe will charge from 10% to 80% in just 11 minutes when connected to a 600-kilowatt EV DC fast charger. That puts it squarely at the top of America's quickest charging EVs (at least as far as the 10% to 80% figure goes).

Photo by: Mercedes-AMG

Today's quickest-charging EVs in the U.S. land somewhere in the teens to low twenties for a 10-80% charge. The new Volvo EX60 is a strong contender with a claimed 16-minute time. The Porsche Taycan will do it in 18 minutes. The new BMW iX3 lands at 21 minutes, with a peak power rating of 400 kW. Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis EVs have always been great at fast-charging too, thanks to their 800-volt battery architectures. The latest Hyundai Ioniq 5 can charge from 10-80% in as little as 20 minutes.

Of course, 10-80% is only part of the story. It also matters how much range that gets you. The Lucid Gravity charges at 400 kW and has been observed recharging from 10-80% in around 23 minutes, a great result considering that vehicle's EPA range of 450 miles.

Now, to appreciate how quick the Mercedes' time is, let's compare that to one of the best-selling EVs: the Tesla Model Y. Real-world performance is around 27 minutes, which really shows how Mercedes was able to shine up the new AMG GT compared to the industry standard of electric cars. That's nearly 325% more energy transferred per minute than Tesla's best-selling car.

Part of the speed is thanks to the car's 800-volt architecture—which, given the list above, is fairly common in the fastest charging EVs sold in the U.S. However, there's one big requirement needed to hit that magic 11-minute figure. Mercedes says that 11-minute charging time relies on a charger capable of pumping a whopping 600-kW of energy through the cable. Those barely exist outside of semi-truck chargers today.

What do you think?

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EV owners typically find themselves on the receiving end of a charger that delivers 250-400 kW today. But more powerful ones are coming, and Tesla's new 500 kW Supercharger V4 stations are popping up as well. China currently has the world beat with its growing megawatt charging network.

Still, what Mercedes is bringing to the U.S. is important. It's a vehicle that charges properly fast and shows that Western automakers are still taking the whole EV thing seriously, even if billions of dollars in investments have been written down in recent months. And if history is any indication, that technology will eventually trickle down into non-supercar options.