Tesla has more than 25,000 Superchargers across the world and this network of charging infrastructure means Tesla owners have great options in terms of travelling over longer distances. Since their original first generation introduction, superchargers have gone through a number of upgrades, including the latest offering, V3 which just reached Australia recently.
While the V3 Superchargers offer 250kW speeds over the 125kW of the V2 options, it seems Tesla are not done yet. In a reply on Twitter, Elon Musk confirmed that their Supercharger Network is being upgraded from 250kW to 300kW to further reduce charging times when you stop off, on a road trip.
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.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 15, 2021
Supercharger network is being upgraded to 250kW to 300kW, so that will help too.
In Australia, the 3rd party chargers were already leading the way when it comes to charging speeds, with networks like Chargefox, Evie Networks and others. These often use charging hardware from Tritium and ABB, both of which offer Ultra-rapid charging of up to 350kW.
When these first started to be installed, there wasn’t a car on sale in Australia that could even get close to leveraging that charging rate. While the Porsche Taycan was intended to be the first 350kW-capable vehicle, by the time it shipped, it was down to 270kW.
That is changing, with a number of upcoming EVs, slated to have that magic 350kW charge rate. While Tesla’s proposed 300kW upgrade to Supercharging is unlikely to be at every location any time soon (likely years), it does bring Tesla closer to the best in the business.
In terms of Tesla vehicles, the Model 3 and Y had the lead on the older S and X models, when it comes to charging speeds, however the refreshed models update that hardware and put them on a similar footing.
Fast forward to when the larger capacity vehicles like the Cybertruck and Roadster actually ship, those larger batteries will certainly need faster charging to make the stop over just a few minutes.
