Supercharger V3 unveiling in Fremont

[e-FTW]

I've been surprised at how slow my Model 3 charges in SoCal when it's 55-60 deg outside and the battery is "cold soaked" to that temp. This will definitely make a difference, even in LA.

The 3 lacks a dedicated battery heater, and they said they were somehow leveraging the 3’s motor(s?) to create waste heat to warm up the battery when needed.
/hand waving

 

[Daniel in SD]

It also shows a warning: "High-usage Supercharger station; Max battery charge of 80%"

This is the best feature they’ve added. Waiting at superchargers for people to finish charging from 80%-100% is the worst.

 

[GoingVerde]

 

[MP3Mike]

Whoa. This is new.

It could pose a problem for me if this is rolled out, because I often need 100% charge to get my X+trailer to the next Supercharger stop.

Yeah, I wonder if that will be implemented at "high usage" V2 stations as well?

Hopefully they will be increasing density quickly now that they can start rolling out V3.

Or maybe it is close to time to upgrade to a longer range X.

 

[kbecks13]

It also shows a warning: "High-usage Supercharger station; Max battery charge of 80%"

This is going to make track days when we have full chargers very....interesting.

So basically this new supercharger is really a megacharger since the cabinet is 1 MW. I bet this is what they will use for Semi, but only 1 truck instead of 4 cars.

 

[MP3Mike]

This is the best feature they’ve added. Waiting at superchargers for people to finish charging from 80%-100% is the worst.

I like the idea, but what do you do about the people that need more than 80% to get to the next Supercharger?

 

[Zoomit]

I had been thinking similarly.

Max current I think that's been observed is 330A for the 96S pack configuration cars drawing a peak 117kW.

If the curve is the same, my math says that ~729A if a peak of 256kW is achieved.

Wowsers if that's even in the ballpark...

I started this thread that briefly compares a 750A V3 Supercharger to the other DCFC units that are being installed:

V3 SC is 50% more powerful than any non-Tesla DCFC for a 400V EV.

 

[Daniel in SD]

I like the idea, but what do you do about the people that need more than 80% to get to the next Supercharger?

I think all the crowded superchargers are in California so that’s not a problem.

 

[Mark Z]

Wonderful news for all as drivers spend less time charging to free up more Supercharger availability.

 

[Daniel in SD]

I like the idea, but what do you do about the people that need more than 80% to get to the next Supercharger?

And the charge rate is so slow past 80% you’re better off just driving slower anyway.

 

[AlanSubie4Life]

Looked at a few of the videos.

I saw 90+ kW at around 66% I think?

Also saw some thermal (?) oscillation in one of the videos, at the 220-250kW level. There was another video where similar was happing near 30% SoC between something like 120 and 150kW. But maybe that wasn’t a V3 Supercharger? It was hard to tell. I wonder if that’s due to thermal at the charge port or just non optimal contact or whether it is somewhere else? Do we need to start bringing contact cleaner with us? Might not be the best idea, that stuff is strong...

Can anyone link to a decent video that actually shows a charge from below 10% to something like 70%?

Sorry if I missed it here. I did look at several Twitter videos but could not find one that really showed the entire taper (or up to where we would care, like 70%).

 

[Tz00]

How are they able to "unlock" 145kW charge rates, when the nameplate on the chargers specifically states they are 135kW (330A @ 410VDC)?

 

[Blup85]

How are they able to "unlock" 145kW charge rates, when the nameplate on the chargers specifically states they are 135kW (330A @ 410VDC)?

"330 Amp Continous"
My guess is surge. it would only be for a short time?

 

[insaneoctane]

Awesome announcement. Kudos to Tesla for continuing to whittle charging times down!

 

[mhan00]

The twitter thought it's about "power safety".

But my interpretation is: It's a crowded station, only 80% or less charging allowed so others can get their turns.

Because it doesn't say "High Power/Voltage... Usage).

I said when they implemented idle fees that they should have also limited SCing to 90-95% before said fees kicked in, so IMO, this is long overdue. It didn’t take a genius to see that people would obviously set their charge limit to 100% to maximize how long they could stay in the same spot, and given how long it takes to get from 90-100% idle fees were often complete;y useless in increasing turnover by how much it needed to be at the busiest stations. 80% is overly harsh, but 90% would be a good spot, IMO.

 

[ggnykk]

Video from the event. It is the same guy that posted videos in his twitter account.

 

[SunCharged]

I hope with this upgrade existing superchargers are more consistent in their charge rates. It’s annoying when the Detroit News takes a Model 3 to a supercharger (Marshall MI) and reports the change rate to their readers and it happens to be a very slow location. Fuels those conversations I have to have about “how slow it is to charge evs.”

This is a very cool upgrade in charging though, can’t wait to try it out!

 

[Matt L]

It’ll likely sound the exact same, just happen earlier. I believe it’s just metal flexing from the heat.

True story.

However, at twice the speed, I could imagine more heat

 

[Matt L]

Tesla launches new Supercharger with 1,000 mph charging, better efficiency, and more

Model S/X will get faster charging speed too, via software update....

Edit: From Tesla.com:

Introducing V3 Supercharging

Oh I bet the whining by the S/X owners is defening.

 

[GSP]

I like the idea, but what do you do about the people that need more than 80% to get to the next Supercharger?

Install destination chargers nearby?

GSP