Tesla makes 350kW Supercharger V4 charging speed official

Tesla has now officially pegged its new V4 Supercharger output as supporting 350kW charging speed, just as previously rumored. The V4 Supercharger piles are being deployed en masse across Europe or the UK, and Tesla says in a construction permit filing that a new station will have 16 "ultra-rapid V4 superchargers (350kW)."

When the first V4 Supercharger station went up earlier this year near a highway to Amsterdam, it was pointed out that cabinets are marked with 1000V and 615A numbers. This tricked some into thinking that the piles would support 600kW speeds, as the Tesla's NACS standard theoretically supports 1MW power, but now Tesla confirms that the output at the connector will be 350kW.

In Europe and UK, Tesla is also mandated to install alternative payment system that will allow contactless cards and its new V4 Superchargers erected there now come with a pay screen and a card terminal. A recent European legislation also earmarks public charging network funding only for 400kW chargers, with the peak output to be raised to 600kW in 2028, so Tesla may have to comply with those requirements as well.

That is why Tesla is rolling out its V4 Supercharger system in Europe first, as even the 350kW speeds that some EV makers like Hyundai still deem insufficient for modern 800V drivetrains, need the electrical infrastructure to support it. Moreover, Tesla cars come with older 400V system and they represent the vast majority of electric vehicles sold in the US.

In Europe, the EV landscape is much more varied, with a recent influx of top-shelf Chinese brands like BYD, NIO, or XPeng, whose vehicle can top up much faster than Tesla's, provided there are charging piles to deliver the output needed. NIO, for instance, is building out a 500kW network in China, while XPeng's maxes out at 480kW, which allows their EVs to charge in less than 20 minutes.

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