Longer cable, new design
Tesla has launched a whole new generation of Superchargers. The so-called V4 charging stations have been operational since yesterday and are located in… Harderwijk.
Harderwijk has a world first with this, because these are the first V4 Superchargers in use worldwide. As we are used to from the ever-mysterious Tesla, this was not preceded by a PR bombardment. The chargers simply appeared and can actually be used since yesterday.
The difference between V4 chargers and the Superchargers of previous generations is very easy to see, because the new poles have a completely different design. For example, the large, red-rimmed ‘hole’ in the middle is gone. Instead, it is about sleek, white, rectangular posts, which are a lot higher than the older ones.
The ‘old’ Superchargers, version V3.
Tesla Supercharger V4.
An important difference between the old and the new poles is the longer charging cable. This is intended to make it easier for non-Teslas to dock at the pole. With Teslas, the charging port is always on the back left, but with other brands it can be on the back right or somewhere in the front. At the moment, this quickly causes problems, because the car then has to park at the pole in a different way than at the intended location. This probably explains why the V4 superchargers are located in the Netherlands, because our country is one of the first countries where charging by non-Teslas is possible at all Supercharger locations. The Twitter account Tesla Charging reports that this does not yet apply to the newly opened V4s, but that will change very soon.
When it comes to charging speed, we shouldn’t expect miracles from the V4, which, like its predecessor, delivers a maximum of 250 kW. However, Twitter users and Teslarati note that the amperage is higher, at 651 instead of 425 A. This could mean that the chargers reach a larger and longer peak for a larger number of different car types and are therefore faster. The V4 Superchargers naturally only have a CCS connection, as was already the case for the V3. In the US, Tesla is sticking to its own Tesla connector, launched in 2012, which makes charging by non-Teslas more challenging there.
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– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl