Tesla has promised some improvements are coming soon to its V4 Superchargers. The changes are being made to make the V4 Supercharger posts easier to use, something which is a key design focus as Tesla opens up their charging network to other electric vehicle (EV) brands.
Tesla installed their first V4 Supercharger in the Netherlands last year. While the performance of the V4 Superchargers remains the same as the V3 Superchargers for now (due to the same supporting infrastructure being installed), the new design did offer some immediate benefits, like having a longer charging cable that made it easier for non-Tesla EVs with their non-standardized charge port locations to plug in. The new Superchargers also had a new charging handle design that required a new holster to dock the charging handle into the post when not in use.
According to the official Tesla Charging account on X (formerly Twitter), both of these features are being improved upon. After user on X complained that the V4 Superchargers were worse for Tesla drivers, notably because of heavier and less flexible cables and the holster not always holding the handle in place, Tesla said “Cable dock & stiffness improvements coming soon!”
The company did not provide further details on what these updates would entail, if they would be applied to existing V4 posts, or when they would make it into production.
Minor things matter. Cable dock & stiffness improvements coming soon!
— Tesla Charging (@TeslaCharging) December 31, 2023
Tesla has been rapidly expanding the number of V4 Supercharger installations in recent months, both with construction of new stations and retrofits of existing V3 stations, but so far mainly in Europe. There have so far been no installations in Canada, and only a few in the US, but those numbers are expected to grow significantly this year as nearly all major automakers have agreed to adopt Tesla’s charging technology (NACS), which comes with access to over 15,000 Superchargers in North America.
The first to gain access will be Ford and GM, which will begin next month.
