Elon Musk’s company Tesla recently opened a new vehicle charging station in Las Vegas that features its next-generation V3 Supercharger. The charging station fulfills Musk’s three-year-old vision of combining the company’s core products into a single sustainable energy ecosystem.
Welcome the V3 Supercharger
The new V3 Supercharger is a beast of a charging solution that peaks at the rate of 250 kilowatts and help in cutting charging time for the company’s EV lineup. The first of these chargers were revealed in March at the Fremont, California based factory of the company. The second such charger is located near the Tesla Design Studio in Hawthorne, California. The two sites were used as test locations but did not offer two crucial products by the company.
The Las Vegas-based charger is considered the first functional supercharger and comes with 39 total charging point. It uses the company’s solar panels as well as Powerpack batteries to help the chargers refuel vehicles quickly. This makes it the first complete system on its own that could charge not only vehicles but also generate its own energy to do so.
The details you missed about the new charger
The new charging station is located below the High Roller on LINQ promenade on a Caesars Entertainment property that situated off the Las Vegas Strip. Caesars aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by 2025 because of which it houses the new charging station.
However, the charger has its own limitation. At the peak rate of 250 kW, the station can only charge the Model 3 Long Range variant. Other cars will have to work with sub-peak performances. Once plugged in and operating at the peak, a Model 3 will go up to 18 miles of range with 15 minutes of charging. The new Model S and Model X will be able to charge at up to 200 kW rate.
Owners of other variants, especially older cars, need not worry. They will also experience faster charging at the station because it doesn’t allow power-sharing. The practice is standard at other charging stations of the company.
Model 3 is the bestselling vehicle for Tesla, and an improvement in charging times is crucial for the company. It would help them sell more cars too. The newer generation of EV owners may not be very patient with charging times and want something quicker and more efficient. The company needs to bring out more V3 Superchargers online to save charging times, refuel more cars at once and help people shift to the more expensive Long Range version of the Model 3.
