Tesla has announced the long-awaited launch of its 500 kW charging capability, following the delivery of its V4 Supercharger cabinets. This marks a major milestone for the company, which has been slowly rolling out Supercharger V4 stations for two years. However, until now, these stations have been limited by using Supercharger V3 cabinets, restricting their output to 250 kW.
The new V4 Supercharger cabinets are designed to deliver up to 500 kW for cars and 1.2 MW for Tesla Semi trucks. This improvement is expected to significantly reduce charging times, with Cybertruck owners seeing charging speeds up to 30% faster than before. For Tesla’s S3XY models, charging rates remain at 250 kW, which means drivers can gain 200 miles of range in just 15 minutes.
In addition to faster charging, the V4 cabinets will enhance deployment efficiency. Each V4 cabinet can now power up to eight stalls—double the capacity of previous cabinets—allowing Tesla to set up more Supercharger stations with less complexity and a smaller physical footprint.
The V4 cabinets are also equipped with next-generation power electronics, boasting three times the power density of earlier models. This increase in efficiency will lead to higher throughput and reduced operational costs. Tesla is already moving forward with permitting for the first V4-powered Supercharger sites, with plans to open them in 2025.
Alongside the V4 rollout, Tesla is working on the Oasis Supercharger project, which features larger solar arrays and battery packs to make stations more energy-independent. After years of promising a self-sustaining Supercharger network, Tesla appears to be moving closer to fulfilling that vision.
Tesla 2024 news from electrek
