Tesla dropped a major Cybertruck detail during the Semi’s first delivery event recently. The Cybertruck and Semi both use Tesla’s new megawatt charger.
Tesla developed a high-power charger for the Semi. It’s a megawatt class charger, capable of charging at 1 MW DC. The megawatt charger uses a similar technology as Tesla’s V3 Superchargers, according to CEO Elon Musk and Senior Manager of Semi Truck Engineering, Dan Priestley.
Ever the innovator, Tesla developed a next-generation immersive cooling technology for the Semi’s megawatt charger. The charging port has high-voltage conductors and coolant tubes. “It’s liquid-cooled, so you don’t need a giant elephant truck of a cable. You can have a small cable, and that cable delivers a megawatt. We’ve 3x-ed the current density,” explained Elon Musk.
Priestley emphasized that immersing the conductor in a water-based liquid coolant is actually is “actually really cool stuff”—both literally and figuratively.
“You’re actually immersing the conductor in the coolant… It means that we can really shove a lot of current in a very, very small place. So for those who have charged their cars at a V3 Supercharger and the cable’s nice and maneuverable, it’s the same thing here, but now we’re just shoving a megawatt through it instead,” Priestley said.
Following this explanation, Priestly noted that such technology is critical for high-powered applications like the Tesla Semi. He then turned to Elon Musk and asked the CEO if he would prefer to announce the next important detail on the technology. Musk did, to much applause from the audience.
“Yeah, it’s gonna be used for Cybertruck, too,” Musk said.
With these details in mind, the two executives noted that this new charging technology is coming to the company’s Supercharger Network next year. This should make Tesla’s Supercharger V4 system one of the most powerful and fastest chargers in the market, bar none. As the network expands even further and opens to even more non-Tesla electric cars, the V4 system’s specs could become a notable selling point.
Tesla’s first delivery event for the Semi can be viewed below.
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