Nature has research (from Joule) that brings us closer to an electric filling station for battery-powered cars, thanks to the discovery that raising the temperature makes it possible to recharge a lithium-ion battery in about 10 minutes:
Chao-Yang Wang and his colleagues at Pennsylvania State University in University Park heated a lithium battery to 60 °C, which allowed the researchers to charge the battery at a high rate in just 10 minutes.
High-rate charging usually encourages the lithium to coat, or plate, one of the battery’s electrodes, blocking the flow of energy and eventually rendering the battery useless. But pre-heating the battery allows fast charging without plating.