Rumors about Tesla’s upcoming V4 Supercharger are swirling throughout the community, with various details about the new charging stacks being speculated against. Tesla Superchargers are the most populous on Earth and have also started to expand to other automakers in some regions, like Europe. However, the company is looking to bring out a new design and also a potential adoption of CCS support for non-Tesla owners.
Tesla’s current top-of-the-line Supercharger is the V3, which is capable of 250 kW charging speeds that can give owners 1,000 miles of range per hour. The introduction of the V3 Supercharger was during my first days as a journalist at Teslarati, and I remember it vividly. It was incredible to see such fast charging speeds and a controlled and calculated rollout of Tesla’s new tech. But of course, even new tech becomes outdated.
The new V4 Supercharger could have a completely updated design, according to @MarcoRPTesla, who stated that the new design will be taller, slimmer, and more streamlined than previous Supercharger shell designs.
As for the V4 design, it looks like Tesla will be using a different shell than the current V2 and V3 models.
While I have yet to determine the new shape, I was able to find the dimensions so that it can be compared to the current model. pic.twitter.com/QQhtDgHfCJ
— MarcoRP (@MarcoRPTesla) July 9, 2022
One could argue that the design of the upcoming V4 Superchargers are similar to the Megachargers Tesla will utilize for the Semi. Teslarati showed exclusive images of the Megacharger design at the Frito-Lay factory in Modesto in June, and it is similar to the drafts of the V4 Supercharger design.
Credit: Teslarati reader Timke Klinker
As you can see from these drafted designs, the new V4 Supercharger could be completely different in terms of dimensions and could be an advantage when used with Tesla’s upcoming Cybertruck as it is a larger vehicle.
The front page of a report also leaked from Tesla that showed the company is planning to develop a Supercharger Charge Post that has Dual Cables that are suitable for both V3 and V4 charging speeds and could also include a potential CCS charging port for third-party automakers to use.
Now, Tesla has discussed opening Superchargers to third-party companies for several years, and it’s already started in the form of a Pilot Program in Europe. The same type of program could be launched in the United States later this year, and it likely will start with the V4 Supercharger. After all, the White House said in late June:
“Later this year, Tesla will begin production of new Supercharger equipment that will enable non-Tesla EV drivers in North America to use Tesla Superchargers.”
V4 supercharger deployment starts this year, first locations will be in Austin, Texas. Higher max charge rate and voltage will be supported, as well as both CCS and Tesla cables @elonmusk $TSLA
— Whole Mars Catalog (@WholeMarsBlog) July 13, 2022
Earlier this week, automaker Aptera pleaded to Congress that Tesla’s Supercharger should be the standard in the United States. “While electric vehicle technology has rapidly advanced, the charging standard in the U.S. has not,” Aptera wrote in an email to Teslarati. “CCS and SAE J1772, the US’s common standards, are clunky, cumbersome, and expensive.”
Tesla’s non-Tesla Supercharger pilot program expands to France, Norway
It is unlikely that Tesla’s Supercharger design will be adopted as the Standard, but the inclusion of CCS-compatible charging connectors on upcoming Superchargers would be a huge advantage for e-mobility and the adoption of EVs as a whole.
I’d love to hear from you! If you have any comments, concerns, or questions, please email me at joey@teslarati.com. You can also reach me on Twitter @KlenderJoey, or if you have news tips, you can email us at tips@teslarati.com.
Elon Musk
Tesla’s Elon Musk: 10 billion miles needed for safe Unsupervised FSD
As per the CEO, roughly 10 billion miles of training data are required due to reality’s “super long tail of complexity.”
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has provided an updated estimate for the training data needed to achieve truly safe unsupervised Full Self-Driving (FSD).
As per the CEO, roughly 10 billion miles of training data are required due to reality’s “super long tail of complexity.”
10 billion miles of training data
Musk comment came as a reply to Apple and Rivian alum Paul Beisel, who posted an analysis on X about the gap between tech demonstrations and real-world products. In his post, Beisel highlighted Tesla’s data-driven lead in autonomy, and he also argued that it would not be easy for rivals to become a legitimate competitor to FSD quickly.
“The notion that someone can ‘catch up’ to this problem primarily through simulation and limited on-road exposure strikes me as deeply naive. This is not a demo problem. It is a scale, data, and iteration problem— and Tesla is already far, far down that road while others are just getting started,” Beisel wrote.
Musk responded to Beisel’s post, stating that “Roughly 10 billion miles of training data is needed to achieve safe unsupervised self-driving. Reality has a super long tail of complexity.” This is quite interesting considering that in his Master Plan Part Deux, Elon Musk estimated that worldwide regulatory approval for autonomous driving would require around 6 billion miles.
FSD’s total training miles
As 2025 came to a close, Tesla community members observed that FSD was already nearing 7 billion miles driven, with over 2.5 billion miles being from inner city roads. The 7-billion-mile mark was passed just a few days later. This suggests that Tesla is likely the company today with the most training data for its autonomous driving program.
The difficulties of achieving autonomy were referenced by Elon Musk recently, when he commented on Nvidia’s Alpamayo program. As per Musk, “they will find that it’s easy to get to 99% and then super hard to solve the long tail of the distribution.” These sentiments were echoed by Tesla VP for AI software Ashok Elluswamy, who also noted on X that “the long tail is sooo long, that most people can’t grasp it.”
News
Tesla earns top honors at MotorTrend’s SDV Innovator Awards
MotorTrend’s SDV Awards were presented during CES 2026 in Las Vegas.
Tesla emerged as one of the most recognized automakers at MotorTrend’s 2026 Software-Defined Vehicle (SDV) Innovator Awards.
As could be seen in a press release from the publication, two key Tesla employees were honored for their work on AI, autonomy, and vehicle software. MotorTrend’s SDV Awards were presented during CES 2026 in Las Vegas.
Tesla leaders and engineers recognized
The fourth annual SDV Innovator Awards celebrate pioneers and experts who are pushing the automotive industry deeper into software-driven development. Among the most notable honorees for this year was Ashok Elluswamy, Tesla’s Vice President of AI Software, who received a Pioneer Award for his role in advancing artificial intelligence and autonomy across the company’s vehicle lineup.
Tesla also secured recognition in the Expert category, with Lawson Fulton, a staff Autopilot machine learning engineer, honored for his contributions to Tesla’s driver-assistance and autonomous systems.
Tesla’s software-first strategy
While automakers like General Motors, Ford, and Rivian also received recognition, Tesla’s multiple awards stood out given the company’s outsized role in popularizing software-defined vehicles over the past decade. From frequent OTA updates to its data-driven approach to autonomy, Tesla has consistently treated vehicles as evolving software platforms rather than static products.
This has made Tesla’s vehicles very unique in their respective sectors, as they are arguably the only cars that objectively get better over time. This is especially true for vehicles that are loaded with the company’s Full Self-Driving system, which are getting progressively more intelligent and autonomous over time. The majority of Tesla’s updates to its vehicles are free as well, which is very much appreciated by customers worldwide.
Elon Musk
Judge clears path for Elon Musk’s OpenAI lawsuit to go before a jury
The decision maintains Musk’s claims that OpenAI’s shift toward a for-profit structure violated early assurances made to him as a co-founder.
A U.S. judge has ruled that Elon Musk’s lawsuit accusing OpenAI of abandoning its founding nonprofit mission can proceed to a jury trial.
The decision maintains Musk’s claims that OpenAI’s shift toward a for-profit structure violated early assurances made to him as a co-founder. These claims are directly opposed by OpenAI.
Judge says disputed facts warrant a trial
At a hearing in Oakland, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers stated that there was “plenty of evidence” suggesting that OpenAI leaders had promised that the organization’s original nonprofit structure would be maintained. She ruled that those disputed facts should be evaluated by a jury at a trial in March rather than decided by the court at this stage, as noted in a Reuters report.
Musk helped co-found OpenAI in 2015 but left the organization in 2018. In his lawsuit, he argued that he contributed roughly $38 million, or about 60% of OpenAI’s early funding, based on assurances that the company would remain a nonprofit dedicated to the public benefit. He is seeking unspecified monetary damages tied to what he describes as “ill-gotten gains.”
OpenAI, however, has repeatedly rejected Musk’s allegations. The company has stated that Musk’s claims were baseless and part of a pattern of harassment.
Rivalries and Microsoft ties
The case unfolds against the backdrop of intensifying competition in generative artificial intelligence. Musk now runs xAI, whose Grok chatbot competes directly with OpenAI’s flagship ChatGPT. OpenAI has argued that Musk is a frustrated commercial rival who is simply attempting to slow down a market leader.
The lawsuit also names Microsoft as a defendant, citing its multibillion-dollar partnerships with OpenAI. Microsoft has urged the court to dismiss the claims against it, arguing there is no evidence it aided or abetted any alleged misconduct. Lawyers for OpenAI have also pushed for the case to be thrown out, claiming that Musk failed to show sufficient factual basis for claims such as fraud and breach of contract.
Judge Gonzalez Rogers, however, declined to end the case at this stage, noting that a jury would also need to consider whether Musk filed the lawsuit within the applicable statute of limitations. Still, the dispute between Elon Musk and OpenAI is now headed for a high-profile jury trial in the coming months.
Tesla’s Elon Musk: 10 billion miles needed for safe Unsupervised FSD
Tesla earns top honors at MotorTrend’s SDV Innovator Awards
