- Superchargers are getting longer cables in preparation for V4
- Tesla can detect when a non-Tesla EV is plugged in
- Meaning extra correct real-time stall availability
Forward of the overdue rollout of its V4 Supercharger {hardware}, Tesla is installing longer cables and making different adjustments which will assist keep away from friction at Supercharger stations as EVs from different manufacturers begin utilizing them extra often.
The official Tesla Charging account on X (previously often called Twitter), the social media community owned by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, not too long ago posted that the automaker is growing the variety of longer-cable chargers—at places set to be V4—and expects them to outnumber short-cable chargers inside the subsequent 18 months.
Tesla has additionally modified over 1,500 websites to assist drivers higher attain chargers, and it has up to date the software program that tells Tesla drivers which charging stalls can be found, in line with the identical put up.
Chevrolet EVs at a Tesla Supercharger station
To additional account for EVs probably blocking areas to plug into chargers with quick cables, Tesla claims it will possibly now detect when an EV with a cost port situated someplace aside from the left rear or proper entrance of the car is plugged in at shorter-cable spots in an effort to not overpromise on charger availability.
That is potential as a result of Tesla can now detect what kind of car is plugged in, Max de Zegher, Tesla’s director of charging in North American mentioned in an X put up, including that the charger-availability algorithm now refreshes about each 15 seconds.
Polestar 3 at a Tesla Supercharger station
Tesla introduced V4 Supercharger {hardware} in 2022 and made some first installations in 2023—at the moment pegged to supply the higher-power charging wanted by the Semi and Cybertruck.
Tesla’s V3 Superchargers, and even charging stalls that seem put in right now as V4, stay to V3 spec and are unable to cost 800-volt EVs at their peak charges.
A migration of most main automobile manufacturers to Tesla’s North American Charging Normal (NACS) started in Might 2023 with Ford, and it could have modified the trajectory considerably. That led to the formalization of NACS as a real commonplace by the SAE and the backing of that commonplace by the Biden administration, which has prioritized funding for growth of public charging. Musk, in the meantime, almost shuttered the Supercharger crew earlier this yr earlier than backtracking and promising a $500 million growth of the community.
Such growth will possible be wanted as extra automakers equip their EVs to cost at Supercharger stations. So far, Ford, Basic Motors, Rivian, Polestar, and Volvo have made adapters accessible to clients, whereas the 2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 will probably be delivered with a NACS port beginning later this month and extra non-Tesla EVs with them are anticipated to look in 2025.
