Tesla’s first foldable Superchargers head to Europe, for more rapid deployment

Tesla in March unveiled its new folding supercharger units, with the aim to speed up the rollout of reliable charging sites globally.

Now, less than three months later, the first batch of these units has made it to Europe, hinting at a global future rollout at new locations.

In a post on X, Tesla’s charging division announced this milestone by saying: “First Folding Unit Superchargers in Europe 🇪🇺” 

The image shared shows 8 Tesla V4 superchargers and a power cabinet sitting on a concrete base, which is being lifted off the ground by a forklift, showcasing the ease of installation, straight from the back of a truck.

This is in line with the information released by the company in March, where these units are pre-assembled before heading to the site.

When it gets to the site, they are unfolded into 8 units when on site, all powered by the company’s latest 500 kW V4 supercharger cabinets.

Previous details also highlight that the new layout ensures that up to 16 supercharger stalls can be transported on the back of a truck before being unfolded on site, with cabling unfolding as the charger units are.

On top of that, the added transportation advantage means 33% more stalls can be loaded onto the back of the truck, reducing trips to the site.

Another key benefit of this new method is to enable 20% lower cost while allowing for 2 times faster installation times on site

Fast charging sites traditionally take many months of planning, hardware acquisition, and construction before they are ready to be commissioned for use by EV drivers.

This method will help deliver better charging sites, both faster and cheaper, while also making it easier for the installation contractor, who will need to do less planning and procuring of individual components.

Tesla leads the way in reliable fast-charging infrastructure across Australia and many other parts of the world, and in recent years has focused on technologies that not only increase charging speed but also improve the commissioning of these units on-site.

With Tesla already using pre-fab site construction in Australia in recent years, the latest foldable supercharger commissioning could be heading our way in the coming years, making the rollout of bigger, more reliable, and cost-effective fast-charging sites even easier. That will help with keeping pace with the rapid EV adoption we are seeing now.

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