Tesla is Testing Supercharger Upgrades That Can Increase Cybertruck Charging Speed to 640KW

One area that has left Tesla owners feeling underwhelmed with the Cybertruck is the truck’s charging speed. At present, the Cybertruck can only achieve a peak 250KW charging speed at Tesla superchargers.

For perspective, the Tesla Model 3 and Model Y, with their relatively small battery packs at around 75KWh capacity, match the Cybertruck's 250KW peak charging speed at superchargers.

Since the Tesla Model 3 and Model Y are smaller, lighter, and much more efficient vehicles, at peak 250KW charging rates, they can recoup over 1000 miles an hour. Of course, that would have been the case, assuming the vehicles are able to sustain the peak 250KW charge rate throughout the charging session.

However, as you all know, the peak charging speed quickly starts to taper down, and by the time the battery pack is nearly full, the charging rate goes down significantly.

In the case of Cybertruck, the all-electric truck shares the same peak 250KW charging speed as the Model 3 and Model Y. At this rate, the Cybertruck can only charge around 650 miles an hour.

It is surprising that the Cybertruck shares the same peak 250KW charging speed as the Model 3 and Model Y, given that the Model 3 and Y packs are 75KWh and the Cybertruck battery pack is 123KWh. For example, with its massive 200KWh battery pack, the Hummer EV can charge at a rapid 350KW rate.

So, what’s going on with the Cybertruck? The biggest limitation of the Cybertruck’s supercharging rate is the battery pack's voltage. Tesla designed the Cybertruck with an 800-volt architecture, whereas all other Tesla vehicles, including the supercharger network, function at 400 volts.

To charge the Cybertruck at 400-volt superchargers, Tesla reduces the number of series connections in the pack to half, resulting in the pack essentially becoming a 400-bolt architecture for the duration of the charging session.

However, when the vehicle is charged, it can reconfigure to 800 volts and send the power to the drive train at this higher voltage level.

This brings us back to our topic at hand. It appears that Tesla is running a test in some supercharger stations that increase the Cybertruck’s charging speed from 250KW to 320KWh but with a promise to increase that number to 650KW with a relatively minor improvement.

This was first spotted by a Cybertruck owner, who saw, for the first time, his Cybertruck charging at 320KW at a V4 supercharger station. A 30% increase in peak charging rate is wonderful; however, even more surprisingly, keen-eyed observers were able to spot Tesla was able to achieve the increased charging speed using the same 400-volt chargers.

The voltage and current determine the amount of power a charger or battery pack can output or accept. The current is expressed in amps (A), and the voltage is expressed in volts(V). The formula is that power equals Voltage times Current (P=V*A).

For example, if we take a 250KW supercharger functioning at 400 volts, it means the charger outputs 625 amps. However, as we saw during the recent Cybertruck tests, the same 400-volt supercharger is able to charge the Cybertruck at 320KW.

This means Tesla was able to increase the Power to 320KW while keeping the voltage at the same 400 volts. To increase the Power without increasing the voltage, Tesla had to ramp up the current from 625amps to 800amps.

This has proven to us the Cybertruck with its larger battery pack is able to handle higher current. However, when you couple the higher current with the higher 800-volt architecture that’s when the magic happens.

The exciting conclusion is that at 800 amps when charged at an 800-volt charger, the Cybertruck can potentially handle 640KW charging. You can arrive at this number by simply multiplying 800 amps by 800 volts, which gives you 640,000W, or 640KW.

At 640KW, the Cybertruck will be the fastest-charging Tesla vehicle not only from a power perspective but also from the standpoint of miles gained per hour. At its peak, the Cybertruck will be able to charge 1,775 miles per hour. In other words, this means a Cybertruck can go from 0 to 100% state of charge in 11.5 minutes.

Having said that, the peak charging speed will, of course, not be sustained throughout the entire charging session; however, if we assume a good charging curve, the Cybertruck can theoretically gain 100 miles of range in as little as 5 minutes.

This is all exciting; however, one thing to consider is how the higher voltage will affect the current. Will the Cybertruck be able to maintain the same 800 amps of current even while being charged at 800 volts?

Also, another thing to keep in mind is that although the newest V4 superchargers can handle the higher 800 amps current, they are still capped at 400 volts. Before we can see a Cybertruck charging at 650KW, Tesla will need to first upgrade V4 superchargers to 800 volts.

Overall, this is exciting, and we’ll be sure to keep you posted as we learn more about Cybertruck charging improvements. Until then, visit our site, torquenews.com/Tesla, regularly for the latest updates.

So, what do you think? Are you excited that in the near future a Tesla Cybertruck can be able to charge at 650KW? Also, do you agree with my calculations about the amount of power we can expect at 800 amps? Let us know your thoughts in the comments by clicking the red “Add new comment” button below.

Image: Courtesy of Tesla, Inc.

For more information, check out: Tesla is Struggling to Convert Cybertruck Reservations to Sales – I Reserved a Cybertruck Two Months Ago & Tesla Already Says My “Cybertruck is Ready for Delivery”

Tinsae Aregay has been following Tesla and the evolution of the EV space daily for several years. He covers everything about Tesla, from the cars to Elon Musk, the energy business, and autonomy. Follow Tinsae on Twitter at @TinsaeAregay for daily Tesla news.