Tesla’s Supercharger network gets more capable, and that’s important as more vehicles are able to use it.
This week, Tesla announced its highly anticipated V4 Supercharger stations will officially go online next year. When they do, the electric automaker’s network will be able to charge a wide range of electric vehicles at speeds up to 500 kilowatts for most vehicles, or even 1.2 megawatts for the Semi.
These new Supercharger stations feature upgraded power cabinets that can support the extra juice, as the widespread V3 stalls only support up to 250 kW right now. The higher-capacity cabinet will also support vehicles with electrical architectures between 400 volts and 1000 volts, so vehicles with 800-volt systems will be able to take advantage of faster charging rates. On the current system, vehicles from Hyundai, Kia, Porsche and other manufacturers with 800-volt vehicles are kneecapped by the V3 Supercharger’s 480-volt limitation.
Other quality-of-life improvements are coming with V4 Supercharger stations, beyond their ability to simply charge faster. The new stalls feature physical payment terminals so you don’t have to rely on the Tesla app, longer cords so non-Tesla vehicles won’t have issues actually plugging in, and “Magic Dock” CCS adapters (which also still have the normal NACS connector integrated as part of the new design). Some of these updated stalls have already made their way to sites in the U.S. and Europe, but are still running with the old power cabinet limiting their output. New V4 Supercharger power cabinets will also be able to run up to eight stalls at once, instead of just four.
The upgrades should help boost the Cybertruck’s charging speed by about 30%, since it does have an 800-volt electrical architecture. Other current Teslas (the Model 3, Y, S and X), on the other hand, will continue to charge at 250 kW, at least until Tesla jumps up to an 800-volt system across its other vehicles.
