Earlier last week we told you about Car and Driver’s 1000-mile electric vehicle range race, where, Tesla dominated the top three positions.
In response to a tweet about the final results of the race, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said, “Not bad, although new Model S has more range & faster charging. 3 & Y should use long range version, as Performance version is meant for max speed & handling, not max range.”
Musk then casually added, “Supercharger network is being upgraded to 250kW to 300kW, so that will help too.”
Not bad, although new Model S has more range & faster charging. 3 & Y should use long range version, as Performance version is meant for max speed & handling, not max range.
Supercharger network is being upgraded to 250kW to 300kW, so that will help too.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 15, 2021
The bump up from current V3 Superchargers that can max out at 250kW to 300kW is a 20% increase. Likely, Tesla’s latest Model S and Model X refresh may benefit from this faster charging first.
Tesla opened the first permanently public V3 Supercharger site at the Tesla Factory in Fremont, California in June 2019, with the new V3 architecture eliminating power sharing from its predecessor. Tesla’s Model 3 and Model Y can charge up to 250kW at this moment in time.
The company’s upcoming Cybertruck and Roadster may also benefit from 300kW charging speeds.
Tapering down charge rate is simply a physical thing that has to happen, as lithium ions bounce around what is an increasingly full “parking lot”.
Just like a car parking lot, where it takes longer to find a spot when the lot is almost full.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 15, 2021
While 300kW is a nice upgrade for the Tesla Supercharging network, it’s not the fastest out there; Electrify America’s charging network does offer fast chargers of up to 350kW using CCS.
