Tesla To Launch V4 Superchargers: 350 kW, Reduced Size

A supercharger format smaller than the current one, slightly narrower and taller: a design better adapted to all electric cars on the market; though not yet confirmed by Tesla itself.

On Twitter a user claims to have located the dimensions and characteristics of the fourth generation of Tesla Superchargers: capable of reaching a power of up to 350 kW, its format will be taller and somewhat narrower. The manufacturer's intention is to adapt its network so that it can be used not only by Tesla electric cars, but by all EV brands; so that the design facilitates the connection of the cable wherever the charging port is located.

Although the information does not come from an official source, Tesla is allegedly expected to apply some changes to its fast charging network. The next generation of Superchargers, the V4, will not only achieve more power but will also have a completely new design. According to MarcoRP's tweet posted earlier this month, the new V4 supercharger posts will be taller and slightly narrower than the current V3 units. Although the shape is not yet final and in the proposed scheme it seems completely prismatic, MarcoRP ensures that the dimensions do correspond to the final design.

In a related article, "Drive Tesla" notes that it received access to a photo of the new V4 supercharger stand, which is visually reminiscent of the Megacharger stand Tesla is already building for the Semi, its electric truck; although it is slightly lower. Unfortunately, according to the information, the photo cannot be shared publicly.

With the inclusion of this new design, in addition to the V2 and V3 Superchargers - which are currently distributed throughout the Tesla charging network around the world - there will be a more compact size V4 version, along with the Megacharger network, which will be physically the largest of the four recharging points that the Austin manufacturer will install.

Also according to "Drive Tesla", the introduction of the V4 Superchargers will take place after the V3 generation obtains an improvement (in the power that it is capable of delivering) of up to 324 kW (from the 250 KW it can currently reach). The V2, the oldest generation of superchargers that currently make up the network, has a maximum power of 150 kW. Elon Musk, Tesla CEO, announced in June 2021 that the power output would increase even more, mentioning the steps that would be implemented successively: 280 kW, 300 kW and 350 kW. In July 2021 he basically repeated this information, announcing that the Supercharger network was being upgraded from 250kW to 300kW.

Unofficial information puts a date for the V3 Superchargers to be able to reach this kind of power by the third quarter of this year, 2022. It will also be very interesting to know if the V4 Superchargers will be built, in terms of design, to facilitate the charging of non-Tesla electric vehicles. Thus, in addition to the CCS connector, they should also include a longer cable, in order to take into account the different exact locations of the charging ports – as the different physical distributions in the car chassis itself varies - of the rest of the electric cars currently on the market.

Tesla has currently more than 35,000 individual superchargers installed worldwide and could potentially reach 40,000 by the end of the year.

Source: hibridosyelectricos

All images courtesy of Tesla Inc.

Nico Caballero is the VP of Finance of Cogency Power, specializing in solar energy. He also holds a Diploma in Electric Cars from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, and enjoys doing research about Tesla and EV batteries. He can be reached at @NicoTorqueNews on Twitter. Nico covers Tesla and electric vehicle latest happenings at Torque News.