Level 1 charging is 110/120 volts. Most plug-in electric vehicles can be recharged overnight from a regular three-prong household wall socket (110/120 volts).
Level 2 charging is 220/240V charging, the type found at most charging stations and easily installed in most homes for a few hundred dollars. Many models can fully charge in approximately 5 hours in a 240V outlet.
Level 3 or “fast” chargers (typically 480 volt) have been developed to enable quick charging in as little as a half-hour, and they are being offered for sale by some electric vehicle manufacturers as well as by third parties.
A level 3 charging station is a 480 Volt 63 Amp DC charger. You get 30 kW of energy (480*63) per unit of time. If you charge for an hour you get 30 kW hours (kWh).
The Tesla supercharger can pump out 12okW! http://www.teslamotors.com/en_CA/supercharger The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) official range for the Model S Performance model equipped with an 85 kWh lithium-ion battery pack is 265 miles (426 km). The EPA range for the model with the 60 kW·h battery is 208 mi (335 km).[9] EPA’s energy consumption is rated at 237.5 W·h per kilometre (38 kW·h/100 mi) for a combined fuel economy of 89 miles per gallon gasoline equivalent (2.64 L/100 km).
A 85kWh battery needs 68kW to be charged at 80%. The Tesla super charger can acheive that in roughly a 1/2 hour.
Optimal Charging
The fastest way to replenish your Model S is to charge to 80% state of charge, which is more than enough for travel between Supercharger stations. Charging the final 20% takes approximately the same amount of time as the first 80% due to a necessary decrease in charging current to help top-off cells. It’s somewhat like turning down a faucet in order to fill a glass of water to the top without spilling.
Battery Types
http://electricvehicles.caa.ca/types-of-electric-vehicles/battery-types/