After a flurry of activity in recent months to build out V4 Supercharger infrastructure across Europe, Tesla has started installing the first V4 station in North America in Oregon. The V4 Superchargers will not only offer faster charging speeds in the future, but they also have longer charging cables allowing for easier access for non-Tesla electric vehicles (EVs).
According to a post on the Tesla Motors Club forum, the Supercharger currently under construction in Wilsonville, Oregon will be North America’s first V4 station. Construction of the Wilsonville Supercharger, located in the SE corner of the parking lot of the Argyle Square Shopping Center (8315 SW Jack Burns Blvd) began in late August, however unlike the typical construction that takes place, the charging posts and bases were built and installed, but without the wiring inside the conduits. Additionally, the Supercharger cabinets and distribution cabinets were installed before the actual Supercharger posts, leading to speculation that this could mean it was going to be a V4 station.
As it turns out those suspicions were correct as the V4 Supercharger posts have now been installed. As you can see from the photo below (left), these are not your typical V3 posts that have the large opening in the middle, and while they don’t have the faceplates installed yet, when you compare them to a V4 Supercharger installation in the UK (right), it is clear these are V4 posts. (h/t: @niccruzpatane)
Based on the current state of construction, it would not be surprising to see the Wilsonville V4 Supercharger be ready to have the switch flipped this week. Then it will be up to the local utility to provide the power and Tesla to energize it, which will hopefully happen soon after. When it opens it will likely at first be limited to Tesla owners only, much like the first V4 Supercharger installation in Europe in the Netherlands. If that is the case, Tesla will open it up to owners of other EVs once they have ensured everything is working as it should.
Tesla has been expanding the number of Superchargers open to non-Tesla EVs in North America in recent weeks. This however is done with the Magic Dock, a built-in CCS adapter that can be retrofitted to existing stations. The one limiting factor is the length of the charging cables and the non-uniform placement of the charging port on non-Tesla EVs, leading to some EVs having to pull in at weird angles, or block two stalls, in order to be able to plug in. With the longer charging cables on the V4 Superchargers, this will no longer be an issue.
