First 500kW Tesla V4 Supercharger station under construction

[henchman24]

This is cool but saves what 3-4 minutes overall from the 250kw chargers?

A few weeks ago I was stopped at a 250kw Supercharger that's right off the highway. Another Tesla owner was like why didn't you go to the 325kw chargers? So I told him it saves like 1-2 minutes and it's further off the highway. Not worth it. I choose quick on and off the highway every time.

From a straight up V3 250kW, a 325kW saves about 6 minutes 0-80%. From a V3+ (V4 dispensers on a V3 cabinet) saves a little over 2 minutes. So from a standard V3 it is roughly 8 minutes 0-80%.

Now all of that assumes you're at 0%. If you're at 10%, a V4 saves really nothing from a 325kW V3+ and the 4-5 from a V3 to 80%. If you're at 25% there is really no difference between any of them. Almost all of the difference is early in the curve. You can save that same full 8 minutes going 0-50% in theory. Most of my charges are around 3-55%, I'd save about 6 minutes from a standard 250kW V3. Taking a 22 minute charge to about 16 (rough numbers give or take a minute since we don't have the curve yet).

All of that also assumes the 250kW V3's handle doesn't overheat. Which if it is warm (>70), I find a charge greater than 45% and from a low SoC will cause the handle to derate on CT. Not as much of an issue on 3/Y as their amperage drops quicker nor S/X as their voltage is higher when the CT pack is split. The handle upgrade on V4s was badly needed.

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[CyberGus]

This is cool but saves what 3-4 minutes overall from the 250kw chargers?

You don't want to save 4 minutes? That's long enough for me to have sex and finish my cheeseburger

 

[henchman24]

You don't want to save 4 minutes? That's long enough for me to have sex and finish my cheeseburger

What will you do with the other 3 minutes?

 

[Beetlebug62]

Lots of good info in this thread, much appreciated to all who contributed.

I had a sheet I made using teslalogger.de data with my 2018 Model 3's charging speeds on V2 and V3 cabinets, that I'd give to anyone who was in my car to help them understand supercharging.

I probably confused them. Then, I added my 2025 Cybertruck data in blue. Those little stars are my datapoints. And, I drew in what I expected for the 325kW charger.

I actually liked that the CT basically had the same charge taper as my Model 3, as I could do the math conversion quite easily. Everything takes 50% longer.

The new 500kW charging is great, but I probably will never see it, as I typically start charging at ~10%, and then go up to 60-65%. That's the range that I need, and as low as I'm comfortable with, while keeping a safety buffer. Unless they change the slope of the curve, a higher peak charge will only add a little speed at the very beginning, and then quickly revert to the tried-and-true curve. I'll save a minute or two. Not really earth-shaking for me, but always appreciated.

On the other hand, I've never been much bothered by the real-world charging speeds, since I typically take 10-15mins to walk to the rest stop, use the men's room, buy a coffee and snack and walk back to the car. If the car needs a few more mins to reach my target, that's fine, I can easily waste a few mins looking at the GPS, etc.

Now, the CT needs a bit more time than my Model 3, but I'm older, I'll walk slower. It's all good.

 

[hemiarch]

You don't want to save 4 minutes? That's long enough for me to have sex and finish my cheeseburger

You must be a slow eater.

 

[CyberGus]

You must be a slow eater.

#TWSS

 

[hemiarch]

#TWSS

Really the only acceptable comeback available there. You’re the Gary Kasparov of thread banter.
Well played sir.

 

[Gigahorse]

Considering about a year ago Tesla was flexing 500kw charging and we currently get a 4min spike to 300some the CT should be able to get 500kw of charging at a bunch of superchargers in 2030?

 

[Urander]

 

[hemiarch]

It have faith it will happen eventually. By the time I sold our old p90D model x it supercharged in about half the time it did when we first bought it.

 

[GmP]

Update on the original item, new Supercharger location in Campbell, CA:
The chargers are installed, an interesting arrangement.
Not seeing the batteries/transformers yet, will peek around the green shield tomorrow.

 

[REM]

It have faith it will happen eventually. By the time I sold our old p90D model x it supercharged in about half the time it did when we first bought it.

Yep. Tesla needs a LOT of real-world data before they will increase the charge curve.

Unlike other OEMs, who really don't care about the lifespan of your vehicle nor the safety of your family.

 

[henchman24]

Bumping this old thread. On my charge stops yesterday at 2 V3+ chargers and 1 V3, I had repeatable behaviour that shows Tesla has tweaked the charge curve. On the first V3+ I plugged in at 9% and ramped to the full 325kW (normally what it does), but it held 325kW to 21% instead of the prior ~17%. From there it started the move down. It went below 250kW at 32%, 200kw at 37% and 150kW at 49%. These are basically ~3-5% further out than the last charge curve (most are close to 4%). Had to do a deep charge on the V3 and it was over 115kW at 65% and 80% was a touch over 100kW. This was a 9-80% charge that took 33 minutes (Tesla rounds and I didn't time myself not knowing it changed). My second V3+ I plugged in at 15% and it hit the same marks through 50%. On the V3, I plugged in at 35% and there was a very brief 250kW and 200kW at 38% then it pretty much hit the same path as prior... 90% was 85kW too. I take this more as a quick boost to the curve than a real change.

TLDR, Tesla clearly isn't done with the curve and quietly made an improvement. Only a minute or two better 10-80%, but a continual chipping away at the time (the same playbook as the V3/Model 3 rollout). 65-90% was a low bar, but there is a pretty dramatic increase compared to the initial V3+ curve. Still not worth staying at chargers if you don't need to.

 

[CyberGus]

Tesla clearly isn't done with the curve and quietly made an improvement.

The charge curve is designed to minimize degradation and maintain cell health. Determining the optimal curve requires data, which they have been collecting for over a year now from real-world sessions.

They've done this before with other models as well.

 

[henchman24]

The charge curve is designed to minimize degradation and maintain cell health. Determining the optimal curve requires data, which they have been collecting for over a year now from real-world sessions.

They've done this before with other models as well.

Yup the V4/4680 playbook mirrors the V3/2170 pretty closely. Now Tesla has made mistakes in the past (see 2021 3/Y) when it comes to the curve, and I think that has naturally made them a bit more conservative. They don't push cells nearly as hard as they did in 2019/2020/2021. Part of that is chemistry, part of that is learning from mistakes. Still they are pushing the 4680 harder now than 3 months ago and a lot harder than 2 years ago. My 9-80% was 8 minutes faster than the 10-80% that OOS got in their first testing and about 2 minutes faster than their most recently published curve (practically that 1% doesn't make a difference in time). Another reference, my 9-80% is slightly better than LG cell 3/Y and slightly worse than Panasonic Cell 3/Y (21-on). About a minute or so slower than a 21+ S/X. Right now it is a one off and needs to actually be timed, but they have made some significant strides.

Generally though, my post was just a confirmation that they are still tweaking things. I doubt they are done.

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