Is Tesla Reducing the Power of the Superchargers?

For a few months, some owners of Tesla have warned of specific problems using Superchargers. A situation that seems to have not improved but has worsened over the months of a case that began at the end of last year.

Several Tesla drivers have contacted us to confirm a situation that media such as Insideevs have picked up, who have also received emails from their readers confirming that the problem is not localized to a few markets.

Apparently, since the change of stations where previously it was possible to charge about 150 kW, it is now impossible to reach 120 kW. Some owners have even told us that some stations may limit their maximum power to 59 kW, making the waits at the stations much longer.

As we have commented, this situation affects drivers from a large part of Europe, from Spain, through the Netherlands, Finland … all complaining that in full expansion of the third generation Superchargers that should represent a significant leap forward with powers above 250 kW, the reality is that visiting a station is each time a new surprise to know what power they can charge.

A situation that affects all Tesla models, both the Model S, X and Model 3, whose owners have even tried to use alternative networks such as Fastned or IONITY. The latter by a driver who on his trip through Europe at the controls of a Model 3, it could not exceed 117 kW in the Superchargers, but it managed to reach 190 kW in an IONITY station.

What is the reason for this situation? While waiting for communication from Tesla, the main suspicion could be the significant heatwave that is passing through Europe in recent weeks. That has been able to motivate a reduction in power for safety. An argument that seems the most logical but that curiously as we see only affects the Tesla network and not the others.

Another explanation could be a reduction in traffic due to the coronavirus crisis, which has led to the temporary power reduction to reduce hundreds of stations’ costs until normality is restored.

On the other hand, a decision is a blow to one of the main, or the principal, commercial argument of Tesla that has the best fast-charging network, but that seems to be going through a small bump that we hope is a temporary matter.

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