You'd have to be living under a rock not to have heard how ridiculously fast the 2021 Tesla Model S Plaid is, but its track speed isn't the only thing that's faster than the previous Model S - the supercharging speed has also been improved.
Earlier in the week, we conducted the InsideEVs 70-mph range test on a 2021 Tesla Model S Plaid, in which the vehicle went 300 miles from 100% to 0% state of charge. Since we began and ended the range test at a supercharger, at the conclusion of the range test we had the opportunity to record a full 0% to 100% charging session on a V3 supercharger station.
Upon plugging in, the Plaid immediately shot up to 147 kW and then gradually crept up to the 250 kW maximum charge rate. That happened after two and a half minutes when the Plaid was at 5% state of charge. It then held the 250 kW maximum charge rate for 7 minutes, and at that point, the state of charge was 33%.
Check out our Model S Plaid deep dive charging analysis
It reached 50% state of charge after only 14.5 minutes. If we use the results of our highway range test, that's 150 miles added in 14.5 minutes. If you want to go by the EPA-rated range of 348 miles, that's 174 miles added in under 15 minutes.
| Time Charging | State Of Charge | Range Added: EPA | Range Added: InsideEVs |
| 10 minutes | 36% | 125 miles | 108 miles |
| 20 minutes | 63% | 220 miles | 189 miles |
| 30 minutes | 78% | 271 miles | 234 miles |
| 40 minutes | 90% | 313 miles | 270 miles |
| 50 minutes | 96% | 334 miles | 288 miles |
| 60 minutes | ~100% | 348 miles | 300 miles |
As with all EVs, the fasting charging happens at the lowest state of charge and the Model S Plaid really rips along until it's at 50% - 60% SOC. The new Model S will charge from 0 to 78% in 30 minutes, and it then takes another 30 minutes to add the final ~22%, further proving that if you really don't need the extra range, it's much better to unplug and move on after 20 to 30 minutes of charging.
Our time to charge graph gives a clear picture of how long you need to charge to achieve the desired state of charge. The line at the beginning of the graph, up until about the 15-minute mark, has an aggressive vertical climb. It's at that point when the charge rate really slows down and the line on the graph becomes more horizontal than vertical.
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The Plaid reaches 80% SOC in 31.5 minutes and the charge rate is down to 70kW. Unfortunately, the vehicle unexpectedly stopped charging at that point, and we needed to unplug and plug it back in to complete the full charging cycle to 100%.
Slightly after 60 minutes, the vehicle displayed 100% state of charge but continued to accept power as it slowly balanced out the battery cells. Thirteen minutes later it was still accepting 3 kW, and we unplugged ended the session.
The vehicle took in a total of 97 kWh (77 kWh from 0 to 80% and 20 kWh from 80% to 100%) which is in line with expectations since the Model S Plaid has a 99 kWh battery pack.
So check out the video and let us know what you think of the new Model S Plaid supercharging curve in the comment section below.
Source: State of Charge