Tesla’s first Supercharger V4 is coming to Arizona. The plans include the future of charging, where there is a Megapack and solar array. The plans for Supercharge V4 were revealed a few months ago by Elon Musk. Tesla is focused on ramping up production of the new charger. Many more are expected to be deployed throughout the country.
The new charger is expected to feature a potential for a higher charge rate (which is currently capped at 250 kW for the Supercharger V3) and a solution to allow CCS charging for non-Tesla electric vehicles. But it could also come with increased deployment of energy storage and solar power at charging stations. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been promising that Tesla will power all Supercharger stations from solar and batteries for a long time, but the rollout has been significantly delayed.
There are some installed already, but full rollout really needs Supercharger V3 and Powerpack V2, plus SolarCity. Pieces now in place.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 24, 2016
Back in 2017, Musk even added that Tesla planned to add solar and batteries to all Supercharger stations and eventually disconnect most of them from the grid. Supercharger V3 has since arrived, and Tesla did accelerate the deployment of solar arrays at Superchargers, but the charger is still only deployed at a minority of new stations. The structure of the V4 was also revealed now.
Plans
According to the building permit, Tesla plans for the station to have 40 stalls, including one fit for vehicles towing a trailer. But the interesting part is that Tesla plans to install two large solar arrays and a Megapack at the Supercharger V4 station. A single Megapack can hold enough energy to charge 40 Tesla vehicles, and Tesla can use the battery system to cut peak demand at the station to avoid large demand charges, which are responsible for increasing the price of charging electric vehicles. The company will be able to use the solar array to charge the battery pack and significantly reduce its need to use the grid.
Deploying solar and storage at Supercharger stations with the new V4 version. Wider availability of its Megapack is potentially going to play a role. Demand is expected to increase. While the cost of charging a Tesla at a Supercharger is still cheaper than gas and also not something to do as often as going to a gas station, owners have been complaining about the rising cost. Despite the increased power output, the design of the Supercharger V4 will remain basically the same. The design plans reveal that it will have the same shape, with the only difference being that the nozzle will live on the outside as opposed to the hollow inside where it lives now.