Tesla announces new Supercharger version with 250kW peak power

Tesla has introduced the V3 Supercharger from its own factory in Fremont, California. The most important innovation is that 250kW charging is supported, although this will soon only be possible with the Model 3.

Tesla reports that all Model 3s produced will be the first to receive an update that will allow charging with 250kW. For the Model X and S, this will come at a later date, sometime in the coming months, also via a software update. At a peak power of 250kW, the Long Range version of the Model 3 can drive again 120km after five minutes of charging. The plan is that Tesla drivers will eventually take half the time to charge their cars, the company said.

According to Tesla, the peak power of 250kW is possible through a new liquid-cooled cable design. The company says that the cables of the V3 Superchargers, compared to the air-cooled cables of the V2 version, are not only thinner, but also more flexible and efficient. Charging with 250kW is possible because a 1MW power box is present. The V2 chargers do not go beyond 150kW, but are limited to 120kW in practice.

Elon Musk’s company has also implemented another innovation that should further reduce the loading time. This function is called ‘On-route battery warmup’. The moment a Tesla driver navigates to a charging location with a V3 Supercharger, the vehicle will automatically warm up the battery. In this way, the battery has the optimum temperature for charging when it arrives. According to Tesla, this reduces charging times by 25 percent.

The design of the V3 Superchargers is otherwise unchanged from the previous version. These V2 versions, of which there are more than 12,000 worldwide according to Tesla, will all receive an update in the coming weeks that will allow 145kW charging.

The first new V3 Supercharger has opened in the United States, although it is only available to Tesla drivers in a beta program. The car manufacturer will place V3 Superchargers in Europe from this summer.