News
Tesla Supercharging times have reduced by one-third in just five years
Tesla Supercharging times have reduced by one-third in just five years, the company said, as its efforts to alleviate false narratives related to elongated charging sessions have improved thanks to technological advancements.
Tesla’s Supercharger Network is already the most robust in the industry, and its tech is arguably the best out there. In terms of dependability, we seldom hear that a Tesla Supercharger is out of order, and if it is, it could be due to routine service or updates.
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Tesla declines funding to build massive Superchargers due to payment options
Other EV charging companies have not been able to match the expansion or dependability of Tesla’s Superchargers, and it’s one of the key reasons consumers flock to its vehicles over competitors.
Tesla revealed this morning that its Supercharging times had been reduced by 30 percent over the past five years, and this is despite the mass adoption of EVs over that time.
The Model 3 was introduced just one year earlier and basically triggered Tesla into the hypothetical stratosphere in terms of becoming the first brand to truly offer a widely affordable and effective electric model. Of course, there were precursors before it, like the Chevrolet Bolt, for example.
Tesla defined six main reasons for its reduction in Supercharger times:
- Transition to the V3 Supercharger
- Efficient Routing with Trip Planner
- Supercharger Density Increasing
- Vehicle Efficiency
- Battery Pre-Heating
- Customer Education
These six factors have all contributed to the reduction in Supercharging times in different ways.
Over the last 5 years, we’ve unlocked 30% faster charge times through a combination of hardware, software & customer education pic.twitter.com/FZFoS85pBN
— Tesla (@Tesla) March 14, 2023
The V3 Superchargers were unveiled in 2019 and enabled charging speeds of up to 250 kW, or 1,000 miles of range in an hour, but only in ideal conditions. This alone has contributed to shorter wait times, but there are a variety of other factors that Tesla seems to believe were more crucial.
Tesla is already moving past V3 and moving to V4, which will be even faster than the previous iteration of Supercharger. The first installations are already underway in Europe and seem to support the introduction of non-Tesla EV charging with longer cables.
Tesla V4 Superchargers unveiled in Europe, could launch this month
Tesla emphasized the importance of the Trip Planner, which has helped cut wait times in half since 2019, the automaker said.
Using real-time vehicle & site data, Trip Planner routes vehicles to available sites & away from crowded sites.
This has helped cut wait time in half since 2019! pic.twitter.com/NS9foC0Fkl
— Tesla (@Tesla) March 14, 2023
The Trip Planner feature helps drivers visit Superchargers along a route that would help them get from Point A to Point B in the most efficient manner possible.
This doesn’t require elongated waits at Superchargers but relatively short stints at various charging stations that help make a drive faster and wait times less of a hassle.
Tesla has also placed a distinct focus on expanding the Supercharger Network over the past several years and expanded from 31,498 connectors in 2021 to 42,419 in 2022, a 35 percent increase.
Other tech has undoubtedly contributed to the reduction in Supercharger times, but the important thing is that the misconceptions regarding EV charging are being debunked.
While it is still not a five or ten-minute task to charge an EV in today’s age, there is also the option of Home Charging, which gives people the option to wake up every morning to a full charge.
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News
Anti-Tesla union leader ditches X, urges use of Threads instead
Tesla Sweden and IF Metall have been engaged in a bitter dispute for over two years now.
Marie Nilsson, chair of Sweden’s IF Metall union and a prominent critic of Tesla, has left X and is urging audiences to follow the union on Meta’s Threads instead.
Tesla Sweden and IF Metall have been engaged in a bitter dispute for over two years now.
Anti-Tesla union leader exits X
In a comment to Dagens Arbete (DA), Nilsson noted that her exit from X is not formally tied to IF Metall’s long-running labor dispute with Tesla Sweden. Still, she stated that her departure is affected by changes to the platform under Elon Musk’s leadership.
“We have stayed because many journalists pick up news there. But as more and more people have left X, we have felt that the standard has now been reached on that platform,” she said.
Jesper Pettersson, press officer at IF Metall, highlighted that the union’s departure from X is only indirectly linked to Tesla Sweden and Elon Musk. “Indirectly it does, since there is a lot of evidence that his ownership has caused the change in the platform to be so significant.
“We have nevertheless assessed that the platform had value for reaching journalists, politicians and other opinion leaders. But it is a microscopic proportion of the public and our members who are there, and now that value has decreased,” Petterson added.
IF Metall sees Threads as an X alternative
After leaving X, IF Metall has begun using Threads, Meta’s alternative to the social media platform. The union described the move as experimental, noting that it is still evaluating how effective the platform will be for outreach and visibility.
Pettersson acknowledged that Meta also does not operate under Sweden’s collective bargaining model, but said the union sees little alternative if it wants to remain visible online.
“In a perfect world, all large international companies would be supporters of the Swedish model when they come here. But unfortunately, the reality is not like that. If we are to be visible at all in this social media world, we have to play by the rules of the game. The alternative would be to become completely invisible, and that would not benefit our members,” he said.
Despite many recent rumors and various reports, Elon Musk confirmed today that SpaceX is not developing a phone based on Starlink, not once, but twice.
Today’s report from Reuters cited people familiar with the matter and stated internal discussions have seen SpaceX executives mulling the idea of building a mobile device that would connect directly to the Starlink satellite constellation.
Musk did state in late January that SpaceX developing a phone was “not out of the question at some point.” However, He also said it would have to be a major difference from current phones, and would be optimized “purely for running max performance/watt neural nets.”
Not out of the question at some point. It would be a very different device than current phones. Optimized purely for running max performance/watt neural nets.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 30, 2026
While Musk said it was not out of the question “at some point,” that does not mean it is currently a project SpaceX is working on. The CEO reaffirmed this point twice on X this afternoon.
Musk said, “Reuters lies relentlessly,” in one post. In the next, he explicitly stated, “We are not developing a phone.”
Reuters lies relentlessly
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 5, 2026
We are not developing a phone
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 5, 2026
Musk has basically always maintained that SpaceX has too many things going on, denying that a phone would be in the realm of upcoming projects. There are too many things in the works for Musk’s space exploration company, most notably the recent merger with xAI.
SpaceX officially acquires xAI, merging rockets with AI expertise
A Starlink phone would be an excellent idea, especially considering that SpaceX operates 9,500 satellites, serving over 9 million users worldwide. 650 of those satellites are dedicated to the company’s direct-to-device initiative, which provides cellular coverage on a global scale.
Nevertheless, there is the potential that the Starlink phone eventually become a project SpaceX works on. However, it is not currently in the scope of what the company needs to develop, so things are more focused on that as of right now.
Tesla has added a notable improvement to its Dashcam feature after complaints from owners have pushed the company to make a drastic change.
Perhaps one of the biggest frustrations that Tesla owners have communicated regarding the Dashcam feature is the lack of ability to retain any more than 60 minutes of driving footage before it is overwritten.
It does not matter what size USB jump drive is plugged into the vehicle. 60 minutes is all it will hold until new footage takes over the old. This can cause some issues, especially if you were saving an impressive clip of Full Self-Driving or an incident on the road, which could be lost if new footage was recorded.
This has now been changed, as Tesla has shown in the Release Notes for an upcoming Software Update in China. It will likely expand to the U.S. market in the coming weeks, and was first noticed by NotaTeslaApp.
The release notes state:
“Dashcam Dynamic Recording Duration – The dashcam dynamically adjusts the recording duration based on the available storage capacity of the connected USB drive. For example, with a 128 GB USB drive, the maximum recording duration is approximately 3 hours; with a 1 TB or larger USB drive, it can reach up to 24 hours. This ensures that as much video as possible is retained for review before it gets overwritten.”
Tesla Adds Dynamic Recording
Instead of having a 60-minute cap, the new system will now go off the memory in the USB drive. This means with:
- 128 GB Jump Drive – Up to Three Hours of Rolling Footage
- 1TB Jump Drive – Up to 24 Hours of Rolling Footage
This is dependent on the amount of storage available on the jump drive, meaning that if there are other things saved on it, it will take away from the amount of footage that can be retained.
While the feature is just now making its way to employees in China, it will likely be at least several weeks before it makes its way to the U.S., but owners should definitely expect it in the coming months.
It will be a welcome feature, especially as there will now be more customization to the number of clips and their duration that can be stored.
Anti-Tesla union leader ditches X, urges use of Threads instead
Elon Musk confirms SpaceX is not developing a phone
