Tesla is debuting a new battery heating feature at its Superchargers to improve charging times and efficiency in colder climates — reports Tesla North.
The electric vehicle (EV) giant announced on Christmas Eve that battery heating will be available at V3 and V4 Superchargers in cold weather. Supercharger battery heating is currently only supported on Standard Range, Rear-Wheel Drive Model 3 and Model Y vehicles.
“When plugging in, Superchargers can now pre-heat batteries for Model 3/Y that are standard range, rear-wheel drive,” Tesla Charging (@TeslaCharging), the official X account for Tesla’s Supercharging network, wrote in the announcement tweet.
“This gets you back on the road faster in extreme cold conditions. Whenever you can, always precondition before Supercharging for the fastest charging.”
Despite Superchargers now being able to warm up your battery, Tesla recommends that you also precondition your car before stopping to top up at a Supercharger. You can do so by selecting a Supercharger as your destination in your Tesla, and your car will take care of the rest and start preconditioning.
Tesla’s Director of Charging, Max de Zegher, explained how the new feature works on X.
“This feature may seem small, but it’s pretty incredible. Through an AC ripple current coming from the Superchargers, cold-soaked LFP vehicles will be able to get back on the road up to 4X faster. This is possible through Tesla’s vertical integration and some of our incredible engineers.”
When asked how this differs from regular preconditioning and what Superchargers usually do, Zegher clarified, “The Supercharger sends an AC ripple current through the battery to help warm it up, [versus] the battery alone warming itself up. First time this ever gets done like this.”
EV batteries deliver less range and take longer to recharge the colder they are, which can be especially troublesome in Canada this time of year. According to Zegher, this is the first implementation of its kind to heat up an EV’s battery as it is being charged.
Tesla recently shared plans to open more than 630 new Supercharging stalls across Canada in 2025. The company also started rolling out its annual Holiday Update earlier this month, with the ability to use an Apple Watch as a phone key and several other new features.
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