The future is now, it seems. Later this year, you’ll be able to almost completely charge an electric car in 20 minutes. We’ve already reached the point where we can do it wirelessly, and now we’ll be able to do it in the time it takes to cook a frozen pizza.

It's as simple as using a single standardized connector that accepts DC fast charging, which was developed by the Society of Automotive Engineers. It’ll be used first by BMW and GM, though Audi, Chrysler, Daimler, Porsche and Volkswagen are reported to be following suit. Specifically, the BMW i3 and the Chevrolet Spark EV are the first two cars to employ the DC fast charge.

“The DC Combo quick charger changes the game,” said GM’s director of advanced vehicle commercialization policy Britta Gross. “Imagine stopping off for a cup of coffee, plugging in your vehicle at the fast charge station outside, run in for your cup of coffee, 10 minutes, 20 minutes later, you have a fully charged vehicle.”

The charger itself is strikingly simple. It uses a single car connector for AC and DC charging, which means it's compatible with the older, standard AC charging stations. But the DC charging is the fast one, bringing the BMW i3 to an 80 percent charge in 20 minutes.

That’s enough for about 80 miles of driving. Obviously, cars with larger batteries will take a longer time to charge, but the BMW i3 offers a pretty good average estimate. AMAZON GIFT CARD GENERATOR