Tesla Is Limiting Supercharging To 120 kW In Europe, But Why?

While some owners believe this has to do with hot weather, Tesla did not give them an official explanation.

By: Gustavo Henrique Ruffo

Aug 6, 2020 at 2:08pm ET

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Tesla is proud to offer superchargers all over the US and also in Europe. In Portugal, it is the only electric car manufacturer widely accepted because it provides a fast-charging network that the country currently lacks. Yet, Tesla owners are complaining that they can't get more than 120 kW in most countries. They have asked Tesla for explanations and got none so far.

The reports of this speed limit come from Spain, UK, Portugal, Sweden, and most other countries in which the cars are sold. According to Tesla club members, some of them occasionally manage to pass that limit, while most are stuck with the 120 kW. Some are even more precise in the description: they say the cars can only achieve 117 kW, even when there is no other car charging.

According to club communication we had access to, people were concerned that Tesla could have nerfed the cars. Tests in other charging stations, such as Ionity's, showed the issue was really with superchargers.

These owners have tried to contact Tesla to understand the issue and got no official explanation for that until now. One fair demand they have is that Tesla could warn owners approaching any given supercharging station about any restrictions.

With the issue, some club members have developed theories for what is happening. Some believe Tesla decided to prevent superchargers from achieving the up to 150 kW of capacity due to the hot weather Europe is facing in many countries this year. Anyway, if that were really the case, any temperature spike in the past would have caused the same decrease in charging speed.

What do you think?

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Considering slower charging sessions also cost more, another possibility is that the restriction has financial goals. The only party able to explain anything is Tesla. We'd ask it if the company replied to the press, but it doesn't. Will it at least tell owners and club members the reasons for the restrictions?

Have you felt your Tesla had its charging speed capped recently? If you have, please let us know more about it at contact@insideevs.com or through our Facebook page. It does not matter where you are: just let us know if you feel your supercharging network is also affected.