Watch This: Just How Fast Are Tesla's V3 Superchargers?

Ben Sullins puts it to the test.

08:06

Tom Moloughney

By: Tom Moloughney

Nov 10, 2020 at 8:06am ET

Add InsideEVs as a preferred source in Google

Comment

Tesla has long-held an advantage over all EVs with the ability to charge faster than anyone else. However, with the introduction of the Porsche Taycan, the Audi e-Tron, and very soon, the Lucid Air, Tesla's dominance of fast-charging EVs is being challenged.

Ben Sullins recently took his Tesla Model Y to a V3 Supercharger, capable of delivering up to 250 kW to the vehicle to record the charging data. He drove the car down to zero and plugged in, recording the charging session on his Tezlab app.

It took a little over 41 minutes to replenish 290 miles of range on the Model Y, and the state of charge was about 90%, although Sullins didn't specify the exact SOC at the time, only the miles added.

Sullins didn't reveal the entire charging session as we did in our Tesla Model 3 V3 supercharger video above. It also didn't appear that his vehicle ever reached the 250 kW maximum draw, although it may have and he just didn't catch it on the video.

In our V3 Supercharger test, our Model 3 did achieve the full 250 kW draw from 5% state of charge until 24% when it began to ramp down. Sullins Model Y may have reached the full 250 kW, and ramped down before he cut in the next clip of the car charging.

Sullins then analyzes some of the data the Tezlab app has collected for the pool of Tesla drivers that use it. The average time a Tezlab app user spends at a Supercharger is 28 minutes, and that includes data the app collected from the community of users for over two years.

However, on level 2 charging, the average time a Tezlab user spends charging is 48 minutes. It appears that most people plug in every night, even if they've only driver 40 or 50 miles that day. Otherwise, the average time charging would be much longer.

What do you think?

View

Comments

That's a little surprising to me. Personally, the average charging time for my Tesla on my home charger is probably about 4 hours. That's because I don't plug in every night - I just don't find it necessary. However, when I owned my BMW i3, I did plug in every night because of its shorter driving range. With that car, my average charging time was probably about an hour.

So check out the video and let us know what you think. What do you think your average charging time on level 2 is? As always, let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.

Source: Ben Sullins