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- Tesla unveiled a next-generation Supercharger that it says will recharge its vehicles faster than ever.
- The new V3 unit can recharge vehicles at a maximum rate of 250kW, according to a press release published on Tesla’s website Wednesday night.
- The V3 charger was designed with the Tesla Model 3 sedan in mind. Its newer battery composition can accommodate the newer charger right away, while Model S and Model X vehicles will remain limited to 120kW charging for the time being.
- According to Tesla, the new V3 chargers can add up to 75 miles of range to a Model 3 Long Range vehicle in just five minutes.
Tesla unveiled a next-generation Supercharger that it says will recharge its vehicles faster than ever.
The new V3 unit can charge at a maximum rate of 250kW, according to a press release posted on Tesla’s website Wednesday night.
The V3 charger was designed with the Tesla Model 3 sedan in mind. Its newer battery composition can accommodate the newer charger right away, while Model S and Model X vehicles will remain limited to 120kW charging for the time being, The Verge reported. A planned software update will raise that cap to 145kW "in the coming months," Tesla said.
According to Tesla, the new V3 chargers can add up to 75 miles of range to a Model 3 Long Range sedan in just five minutes, and "charge at rates of up to 1,000 miles per hour."
"Combined with other improvements we’re announcing today, V3 Supercharging will ultimately cut the amount of time customers spend charging by an average of 50%, as modeled on our fleet data," Tesla said in its statement Wednesday night.
The new V3 chargers went online in the San Francisco Bay Area on Wednesday. Additional locations are expected to open later.
Read more: 2019 was supposed to be easy for Tesla, but now it’s a circus
The electric-car company has been keenly focused on developing its charging infrastructure — an effort that’s been kicked into high gear since the Model 3 sedan, its first mass-market vehicle, went on sale.
Echoing its previous remarks on the matter, the company said "charging needs to be even faster, and the number of vehicles able to charge at a location in a day needs to be significantly higher."
To that end, Tesla says its new V3 chargers will also be able to charge vehicles at optimal rates, even at Supercharger stations where multiple vehicles are charging at once.
"With thousands of new Superchargers coming online in 2019, the launch of V3, and other changes we’re making to improve throughput, the Supercharger network will be able to serve more than 2x more vehicles per day at the end of 2019 compared with today," Tesla said.
See Also:
- Elon Musk doubled down on his goal to make a Tesla that’s less expensive than the Model 3
- Tesla’s reputation with consumers took a big hit after a wild year, according to a new poll
- A Tesla driver appears to be sleeping on the highway in a Twitter video
Source: Business Insider – blogan@businessinsider.com (Bryan Logan)