Tesla Attempts Trial To Increase Maximum Charging Rate Of Cybertrucks On Supercharger Network

Tesla Inc. TSLA engineer Wes Morrill on Monday said that the company is running a trial where it is trying to increase the charging speed of Cybertrucks on certain superchargers.

What Happened: Tesla superchargers have a maximum charging rate of 250 kW. However, Tesla is now running a trial and trying to increase it on certain superchargers, Morrill said on X. Morrill is Cybertruck lead engineer at Tesla.

“Running a trial on a few different V3+ stations (V3 cabinet + V4 charge post). This is not a bug, but it’s also not rolled out to all hardware capable stations,” Morill responded to an EV owner who reported charging their Cybertruck at 323kW at a charging stall in Los Gatos, California.

Running a trial on a few different V3+ stations (V3 cabinet + V4 charge post). This is not a bug, but it's also not rolled out to all hardware capable stations. I guess since @TesLatino has visited 97% of all North America supercharger locations he was bound to find one.

— Wes (@wmorrill3) August 5, 2024

It is unclear if the higher charging rate will apply only to the Cybertruck or also to Tesla’s other cars.

Tesla did not immediately respond to Benzinga’s request for comment.

Why It Matters: Tesla has its own EV charging network called the supercharger network around the globe.

The company, in its second-quarter earnings report, said that the number of supercharger connectors at the end of the second quarter was 59,596, 24% higher than the corresponding quarter of 2023.

The growth rate, however, has slowed significantly since the company announced layoffs of at least 10% of its global workforce in April. The layoffs impacted 500 members of the supercharging team and Rebecca Tinucci, Tesla's then Senior Director of Charging Infrastructure, left the company.

However, during Tesla's annual shareholder meeting in June, Tesla CEO Elon Musk slammed rumors of the death of its supercharger network as "greatly exaggerated."

"Our supercharger network is continuing to grow," Musk said.

The company continues to grow its supercharger network while keeping an eye on capital efficiency and the places they are deployed, Musk said while adding that it will deploy more "working" superchargers this year than the rest of the industry combined.

Tesla will invest $500 million in expanding the network this year, Musk then said, reiterating his investment goal from May.

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Photo courtesy: Tesla