With the impending arrival of the hundreds of thousands of pre-ordered Model 3 units on the road, Tesla is hard at work on expanding and improving its Supercharger network. True to the EV firm’s custom of outdoing itself every step of the way, recent patents have leaked referring to an ultra-fast charging solution that could charge Tesla’s vehicles both from a charging port and directly from a ground-based system. Unfortunately for Model 3 owners, however, this upcoming technology might be out of reach.
The ground-based charging patent was revealed in a recent report from Electrek . According to the publication, the patent, which was first filed back in 2014 and published this month, depicts a ground-mounted system that would enable Tesla vehicles to automatically charge their batteries using an external cooling system. Coupled with the power coming from a direct line to a Supercharger, the new system would enable Tesla vehicles to charge significantly faster.
The Tesla Model S and the Model X are ready for this particular update to the Supercharger network, especially since both vehicles are equipped with an accessible high-voltage connector separate from the EV’s charging port. This particular feature, however, is absent on the Tesla Model 3.
As stated in a report from The Drive , the Model 3’s final design has no externally accessible high-voltage connector apart from its main charging port. This means that owners of the Model 3, apart from dishing out money every time they charge, would also end up charging their vehicles significantly slower than Model S and Model X owners, at least once the recently-revealed patent does come to fruition.
Thank you to all our employees for your hard work making Model 3 a reality pic.twitter.com/QctmioYxRw
— Tesla (@Tesla) July 29, 2017
The Tesla Model 3 is Elon Musk’s brainchild, a car that is designed to change the automotive industry definitively. In order to meet the massive demand for the vehicle, the Model 3 was designed with simplicity in mind. This simplicity, however, comes at a significant price.
Among the tradeoffs for the Model 3’s design is the fact that the device’s battery is non-swappable. In order to eject the battery of the vehicle, several bolts, some which are located in the interior of the vehicle, would have to be removed. Apart from this, of course, the battery pack has no secondary connector.
Making a Model 3 pic.twitter.com/NxSKzbhfqd
— Tesla (@Tesla) July 29, 2017
Regardless of these disadvantages, however, the EV industry is still on high alert with regards to the full rollout of the Tesla Model 3. Once full production of the Model 3 is attained, the EV industry might very well change forever.
[Featured Image by Tesla ]