Tesla fans have been waiting and expecting to see the launch of the new V4 Superchargers in North America as plans for several stations across the US have already been uncovered. However Tesla revealed that the V4 Superchargers will first launch in Europe
The news was shared yesterday by Tesla’s Senior Director Charging Infrastructure Rebecca Tinnuci during her part of the Investor Day presentation, adding that the first units are already being installed.
“We have also just started installing our fourth generation Supercharger posts, those are being installed in Europe first,” Tinnuci said.
Tinnuci also confirmed that the V4 Superchargers will feature longer cables to deal with the non-standardized location of the charge ports on non-Tesla EVs, confirming our reporting last year.
“While it is not a big thing to mention, they do have longer charging cables so that we can more easily reach the charging port of different vehicles,” she added.
Unfortunately that was the extent of the information provided by Tinnuci relating to the V4 Superchargers. While we have yet to see any Tesla owners or fans spotting these new Superchargers, we already know what they look like based on some of those previously mentioned plans.
Visually the V4 Supercharger post is very different as it is a solid design with no opening in the middle, mimicking the design of the Megacharger for the Tesla Semi. This design is what allows for the longer cable as it now exits the pedestal from the top side of the unit, rather than inside the opening.
The other aspect of this newly designed Supercharger is that it doesn’t allow for the installation of a Magic Dock. As we have seen the Magic Dock has been added to the inside of the pedestal where the charging cable docks. Now that the cable docks on the outside Tesla will either have to come up with a completely different design, or just not open up V4 Superchargers to other EVs.
Given that no details were shared on the V4 Supercharger charging speeds, it could be that when they first launch they will still provide the same 250kW as the existing V3 Superchargers, with Tesla unlocking higher speeds, likely 350kW or more, at a later date through a software update.
If any of our readers in Europe spot a V4 Supercharger installation, please send us pictures at tips@driveteslacanada.ca.
