Since as far back as 2017, Tesla has been limiting the Supercharger speeds on some vehicles. While this might sound alarming to owners, it appeared Tesla was only limiting it to vehicles that had an unusually high number of Supercharger or DC fast charging sessions.
The restrictions varied between owners, with some reporting charging limits under 100kW, while others were able to get closer to 110kW. According to Tesla, this was done to protect the battery pack from experiencing a higher than normal rate of degradation (via Electrek).
“The peak charging rate possible in a li-ion cell will slightly decline after a very large number of high-rate charging sessions. This is due to physical and chemical changes inside of the cells. Our fast-charge control technology is designed to keep the battery safe and to preserve the maximum amount of cell capacity (range capability) in all conditions. To maintain safety and retain maximum range, we need to slow down the charge rate when the cells are too cold, when the state of charge is nearly full, and also when the conditions of the cell change gradually with age and usage. This change due to age and usage may increase total Supercharge time by about 5 minutes and less than 1% of our customers experience this.”
It appears Tesla has had a change of heart and removed the charging limits after the 2020.48.26 holiday software update. According to multiple owners, they are now able to charge at close to full speeds at V2 and V3 Superchargers.
2017 Model S 100D, 2020.48.26, over 97,000 miles, lots of Supercharging and previously capped at 104kW on superchargers, check out the rate I hit on v3 today 😎 pic.twitter.com/I4SokNu9dV
— James Locke (@arctechinc) December 29, 2020
My Model S 75 RWD from early 2017 was limited to 82 kW. Now its charging at 123 kW at v2 #Supercharger pic.twitter.com/aeM1OcPMxD
— Pott Pat (@potttaq) December 29, 2020
In the video below, well known European Tesla owner Steven Peters shows the Supercharger ramp of his Model S P100D. Before the holiday update, his car was limited to 108kW. At the V2 Supercharger, his car was able to reach a high of 144kW, or 706km/h.
Hopefully we get an official statement from Tesla on why they have removed the restrictions. Have they made improvements somewhere that have reduced the effects of fast charging on their battery packs? Or have they found that the impact on the battery packs wasn’t as bad as they originally thought?
Was your Tesla Supercharger speed limited? Have you also seen a change after the holiday update? Let us know in the comments below.
