Hyundai's Ultra-Fast EV Charging Stations Belong in Formula One

Standing around while you wait for your car or electric vehicle (EV) to be refueled or charged is a dull task. Hyundai Motor Group (Hyundai), though, plans on turning this necessity into a futuristic and exciting one.

Per InsideEVs, the South Korean automaker recently announced it was working on developing, and soon rolling out, a new type of EV charging station: The E-Pit. 

Hyundai's design drew inspiration from Formula One's pit stops, although the E-Pit doesn't work quite as fast as F1's pit stops, the same sentiment applies. 

Who has access to the E-Pit

Owners of Hyundai and Kia's EVs will soon be able to plug in their vehicles to one of the E-Pit's 800-volt fast chargers, charging up their batteries to 80 percent in just 18 minutes. And with just a five-minute charge, they'll be able to juice up enough for 62 miles (100km) of range. 

The company's initial plans involve building 20 charging stations across South Korea, with a total of 120 stalls. In April alone it'll put up 12 stations with a total of 72 stalls, and by the end of the year, it will have added eight more stations with a total of 48 stalls. 

There's no mention yet as to when, or if, these E-Pits will be installed in the U.S. or other countries. 

Payment for the charge will be done through an app, which takes the payment and unlocks the charger, reports CNET.

And thinking ahead, these new charging stations will be able to support a number of upcoming EVs from both Hyundai and Kia, such as the IONIQ 5, and EV6, both of which will launch later this year.

It'll be interesting to see whether or not other EV makers join the EV pit charging bandwagon. We'll just have to wait and see how Hyundai's E-Pit fares first.