Tesla has lastly turned on its first full V4 Supercharger (stalls plus cupboards), able to 500 kW charging, marking the top of a complicated rollout of the next-generation chargers during the last three years.
The Supercharger community is by far the very best large-scale electrical automobile fast-charging community on the earth.
It’s arguably the very best factor Tesla has ever executed.
The community leads by way of scale, usefulness, reliability, and general ease of use. In Europe and Asia, there’s first rate competitors, however in North America, there’s no shut second.
Nonetheless, there’s one facet of fast-charging networks the place Tesla doesn’t lead: charging charge and, subsequently, time.
For a decade, different charging networks have achieved and even surpassed a 350 kW peak cost charge.
In reality, in 2016, when Tesla began speaking about its next-gen V3 Superchargers, I requested CEO Elon Musk if it could be able to 350 kW charging, and he instructed that it could be greater than that – calling 350 kW “a kids’s toy”:
That remark didn’t age effectively as Tesla’s V3 Supercharger peaked at 250 kW, and it has been the norm for nearly the final 10 years.
In 2023, Tesla began deploying “V4 Superchargers”, however the rollout has been complicated.
For the primary time, Tesla claimed that V4 Superchargers lastly achieved “kids’s toy” capability of 350 kW, however the automaker didn’t deploy real “V4” Superchargers on the time.
As a substitute, Tesla solely deployed V4 charging stalls or posts, however the energy truly comes from the charging cupboards, and people remained the identical V3 cupboards.
The principle change with the brand new charging posts was the introduction of a brand new, longer charging cable, which enabled simpler accessibility for non-Tesla autos, a lot of which have completely different cost port areas.
Late final yr, Tesla lastly introduced that the primary full V4 Superchargers, that includes the brand new cupboards and as much as 500 kW charging, would arrive in 2025.
Earlier this yr, the automaker additionally introduced that it managed to spice up the capability of its V4 posts with V3 cupboards to 325 kW.
Tesla’s first actual V4 Supercharger is right here
As we speak, Tesla confirmed that its first full V4 Supercharger station (with V4 stalls and energy cupboards) has been activated in Redwood Metropolis, California:
The automaker shared a picture of the primary individuals to cost on the new V4 Supercharger station:
Nonetheless, you possibly can’t make the most of the brand new capability with a Mannequin 3. Solely Tesla’s Cybertruck can use the complete capability of the brand new V4 Superchargers.
Tesla shared a video of a Cybertruck reaching the max capability:
The video confirmed the Cybertruck nearly utterly depleted. Due to this fact, it’s unclear how lengthy it could actually keep the height 500 kW cost charge, however the video means that it could actually cost from 0 to 80% state of cost in 35 minutes, which is a good cost time.
For now, solely Tesla autos can cost on the new V4 Superchargers, however the automaker goals to make it obtainable to non-Tesla autos quickly.
Many extra non-Tesla fashions can make the most of the upper cost than Tesla fashions, which is restricted to the Cybertruck.
