Bad Cybertruck charging curve to be fixed with OTA update as Tesla gets more 4680 battery limits data

During one of the first Cybertruck video reviews, Tesla’s head engineer Lars Moravy said that the Cybertruck’s 123 kWh battery pack can be charged in 18 minutes.

That, of course, would only be possible on powerful enough chargers, of which Tesla currently has none, and Moravy probably meant a typical 10%-80% battery charge scenario, too.

Still, a charging speed of less than 20 minutes wouldn’t come as a surprise for a modern EV built on an 800V platform, as many an electric Hyundai or KIA EV owner could attest. In fact, Hyundai's cars are the fastest charging sold in the US, and can charge with speeds of up to 868 mi/hr.

The Cybertruck is Tesla’s first try at making a fast charging EV, however, and its charging curve has been rather abysmal in reality.

Anecdotal evidence shows that even at 350 kW non-Tesla chargers, the Cybertruck’s disappointing curve tapers off so precipitously, that it actually charges slower than its competitors, or even other Tesla vehicles. Forget 20-minute charging, the Cybertruck took as long to get to 50% then, and then another 20 to get to 80% battery.

This might be due to the fact that it is powered by a 4680 battery whose chemistry in the Model Y exhibits similar charging capability, and Tesla hasn’t yet issued an update about it as it usually does.

In its first electric truck, however, Tesla uses different 4680 batteries dubbed Cyber cells that reportedly offer up to 15% higher energy density. The good news is that the 4680 battery in the Cybertruck is also capable of faster and more efficient charging, too.

Tesla has apparently now amassed enough real-life Cybertruck charging data that it knows how to iron out the kinks and safely raise the charging limits to match its lab specs more closely.

Tesla’s powertrain VP Drew Baglino, for instance, tipped that the team will soon be fixing "a corner case bug that sometimes locks posts into 100A max when charging Cybertrucks from very low SOC." He added that an OTA update is coming later this quarter to add more than 150 miles of range to the Cybertruck in just 15 minutes of charging.

That would be a boost of up to 20% to the current Cybertruck charging speeds and should level it off with the competition in that regard.

Those OTA charging fixes are how Tesla’s new vehicle launches usually work, yet when it comes to the promised sub-20 minutes Cybertruck charging, that may be a longer way off still.

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