One of the more prescient and impactful decisions Tesla made early on was to roll out a network of Supercharger stations at strategic locations across the United States and in other countries where the company had a significant presence. Indeed, Tesla over the past few years has invested a considerable amount of money into its Supercharger infrastructure and, as a result, it has all but eliminated any lingering concerns regarding Range Anxiety.
In recent years, and thanks to the growing popularity of the Model 3, the number of Teslas on the road has exploded. In turn, some Supercharger stations are often full and can test the patience of drivers looking for a quick charge. Looking to address the issue, Tesla this week provided us with more details regarding the next-gen version of its Supercharger station which can charge vehicles at a much faster clip.
“V3 is a completely new architecture for Supercharging,” Tesla notes. “A new 1MW power cabinet with a similar design to our utility-scale products supports peak rates of up to 250kW per car.”
How this translates into real-world usage is impressive. As a prime example, Tesla writes that its next-gen Supercharger can charge the long-range Model 3 up to 75 miles in just 5 minutes and 180 miles in 15 minutes. All told, Tesla is confident that is new Supercharger technology will reduce the time the average Tesla owner spends at a charging station by 50%.
“Supercharger stations with V3’s new power electronics are designed to enable any owner to charge at the full power their battery can take – no more splitting power with a vehicle in the stall next to you,” Tesla adds. “With these significant technical improvements, we anticipate the typical charging time at a V3 Supercharger will drop to around 15 minutes.”
Beyond higher peak power, Tesla is taking other measures to improve the charging process. A new feature dubbed On-Route Battery Warmup will “intelligently heat the battery” to ensure that users en route to a charging station “arrive at the optimal temperature to charge.” Tesla claims that this will reduce the average charge time by as much as 25%.
The first next-gen Supercharger went live on the west coast and, early on, will be geared for the Model 3 as that is the company’s highest-volume vehicle. Before long, though, Tesla plans to roll out software updates to Model S and Model X vehicles which will enable them to take advantage of V3 Supercharging.
