2023-04-24 13:21:48
Tesla is starting to roll out its new V4 Superchargers. But unfortunately, they are still incompatible with the fastest charging electric cars on the market. The Hyundai Ioniq 5, Ioniq 6 and Kia EV6 cannot charge there at full power. And this is problematic, since the recharging time goes from 18 minutes to… almost an hour!
In Europe, Tesla has started rolling out its new V4 Superchargers. The great novelty is the presence of an ultra-long cable, three meters, allowing you to connect any electric car without interfering with the charging of Teslas. For the moment, Tesla has deployed a single charging station with these new V4 Superchargers, in the city of Harderwijk, in the Netherlands. The 16 fast charging stations are open to Tesla cars as well as any electric vehicle equipped with a CCS combo socket.
Some electric cars are “incompatible”
The problem is that Hyundai and Kia electric cars equipped with an 800-volt E-GMP platform are incompatible with V4 Superchargers as can be seen in a video posted on YouTube with a Kia EV6. It’s not a new problem and was already known by Tesla, Hyundai and Kia with the V3 Superchargers. But it was hoped that the V4 Superchargers would fix the problem. Which is not the case.
In practice, plugging a Kia EV6, Hyundai Ioniq 5 or Hyundai Ioniq 6 into a V3 or V4 Supercharger will work. Charging will start. So far, no problem. On the other hand, the maximum power will be limited to 42 kW. While these cars can collect more than 230 kW in maximum power and the Tesla terminals are planned to climb to 250 kW. It is thanks to this power that the Kia and Hyundai can announce a recharge of 10 to 80% in just 18 minutes, for example on the Ionity terminals.
But with a power of 42 kW, it is rather necessary to rely on regarding an hour to perform the same exercise. V3 or V4 Superchargers can therefore troubleshoot a Hyundai or Kia equipped with an 800-volt architecture, but they will not allow you to fill up quickly.
Whose fault is it ? Tesla or Hyundai?
Note that the 400-volt Hyundai and Kia (Hyundai Kona Electric and Kia Niro EV) do not seem to be affected by this problem. Similarly, plugging a Kia EV6, Hyundai Ioniq 5 or Ioniq 6 into a Supercharger V2 is no problem. The power will be limited to 150 kW since the Supercharger V2 do not offer more power.
Tesla and the Korean group Hyundai pass the buck. It would seem that the problem is linked to the way in which the 800 volt platform of Hyundai and Kia manages the conversion to 400 volts as we specify in our dedicated file. Since this problem does not arise with the Porsche Taycan and Audi e-tron GT which are also 800 volts.
But the problem also seems specific to Tesla, since Korean cars have no problem converting with other terminals to 400 volts, such as those of TotalEnergies for example.
Will the future Kia EV9 also be incompatible? Could a future update to Hyundai Group’s Superchargers or electric cars fix this issue? It’s not totally impossible, but not officially on the agenda.
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