As part of an interesting new Tesla engineering trial, Tesla has increased the power of some Superchargers to 320kW+.
That’s a large improvement, as Tesla’s Superchargers have historically only supported a maximum of 250kW – with some turbo-ing to the 260-270kW range, depending on temperatures. @TesLatino on X found one of the trial sites.
Supercharger V3+
Tesla seems to be conducting this engineering trial on V3+ (V3.5 on the plaque) Superchargers in the United States right now. Kyle Conner, from Out of Spec Studios, who does reviews and road trips on EVs, noted that these posts are probably running at 900 amps or higher to get to that 320kW+ number, given that they don’t appear to be running at higher voltages than normal.
In terms of amperage, the highest that has normally been seen is about 700 amps, and this is significantly higher. The Cybertruck will likely be able to achieve 330kW once 950V support comes to Superchargers – right now they’re running at around 390V. That voltage increase will also drop the overall current, thereby dropping temperatures and increasing charge speeds.
Wes Morrill, the Cybertruck Lead Engineer, noted that this test is being rolled out to several different states that have V3 cabinets and V4 charging posts – hence the V3+ or V3.5 monikers. We’re happy to see Tesla working on improving maximum charging speeds – the Cybertruck can theoretically reach up to 340kW, so this is well on its way there.
Future Charging
Part of this super-high theoretical maximum is the fact that the Cybertruck’s battery pack is actually split into two – so you can charge both packs extremely fast – resulting in faster overall charging, as the combined pack’s maximum charge speed is higher than either individual pack.
Even older Tesla vehicles – from around 2021+, can technically handle 300kW – as their bus bars are rated for it. A 50kW improvement over the old maximum of 250kW would be an amazing improvement, not only to charge times, but it would also help reduce congestion as vehicles would charge faster.
We’re looking forward to Tesla’s future charging innovations – and whether the two-pack charging system becomes the standard on future Tesla vehicles to help achieve even faster EV charging.
