Tesla Cybertruck to get a 20% charge speed increase
Tesla Cybertruck is soon going to get a 20% increase in its fast-charging speed through an over-the-air software update.
When Tesla launches a new vehicle program, it often starts delivering it without having completely finished its development – especially on the software side of things.
For example, the Cybertruck still doesn’t have many Autopilot and Full Self-Driving (FSD) features despite Tesla delivering all of them with Autopilot and FSD packages.
The automaker plans to deliver those later through over-the-air software updates.
When it comes to the powertrain, you wouldn’t think that software can do much, but there are often improvements to be made. Tesla often software limits its powertrain in new vehicles until it can build more confidence into the hardware and then unlocks more capability through software updates.
This appears to be the case with the Cybertruck’s charging capacity.
Early looks at the Cybertruck’s charge curve were disappointing. We previously reported on a session where the Cybertruck jumped to a peak charge rate of 255kW, but it quickly started to taper, with charge rate gradually decreasing starting at only 20% state-of-charge (SOC). By the time it reached 40% SOC, it was already down to 150kW, 100kW at 60% SOC, and reaches a plateau of 75-80kW at about 66% SOC, which it holds until around 90%.
Now, Tesla says that it is addressing that.
Drew Baglino, Tesla’s head of energy and powertrain engineering, said that the automaker is increasing the Cybertruck’s charge curve to 154 miles of range in just 15 minutes:
Cybertruck charge curve improvements are coming OTA later this quarter to unlock up to 154 miles recovered in 15 minutes.
Currently, Tesla estimates “up to 128 miles added in 15 minutes”. That’s a 20% increase in range added over the same timeframe.
Baglino says to expect the update later this quarter, which would mean by the end of June.
Electrek’s Take
I think it’s fair to say that Tesla cuts some corners to bring vehicles to market faster than legacy automakers. There are definitely some concerns with that, but it also opens the door to vehicles significantly improving quickly after the launch.
This is an example of that.
Many people felt like the Cybertruck’s bad charge curve was a bad look for Tesla’s new 4680 cells, but it looks like Tesla was being careful with the new hardware and now feels like it can get more out of it
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China just laid out a plan to roll out over 100,000 ultra-fast EV charging stations by 2027 – and they’ll all be open to the public.
The National Development and Reform Commission’s (NDRC) joint notice, issued on Monday, asks local authorities to put together construction plans for highway service areas and prioritize the ones that see 40% or more usage during holiday travel rushes.
The NDRC notes that China’s ultra-fast EV charging infrastructure needs upgrading as more 800V EVs hit the road. Those high-voltage platforms can handle super-fast charging in as little as 10 to 30 minutes, but only if the charging hardware is up to speed.
China had 31.4 million EVs on the road at the end of 2024 – nearly 9% of the country’s total vehicle fleet. But charging access is still catching up. As of May 2025, there were 14.4 million charging points, or roughly 1 for every 2.2 EVs.
To keep the grid running smoothly, China wants new chargers to be smart, with dynamic pricing to incentivize off-peak charging and solar and storage to power the charging stations.
To make the business side work, the government is pushing for 10-year leases for charging station operators, and it’s backing the buildout with local government bonds.
The NDRC emphasized that the DC fast chargers built will be open to the public. This is a big deal because a lot of fast chargers in China aren’t. For example, BYD’s new megawatt chargers aren’t open to third-party vehicles.
As of September 2024, China had expanded its charging infrastructure to 11.4 million EV chargers, but only 3.3 million were public.
Read more: California now has nearly 50% more EV chargers than gas nozzles
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Tesla is starting to experience some consequences for misleading Full Self Driving customers – at least that’s the finding of one arbitration ruling that has Tesla refunding one customer $10,000 plus legal fees for failing to deliver on their promises. Find out more on today’s legally challenging episode of Quick Charge!
An arbitration “court” found that Tesla misled customers with its Full Self Driving product, and has now been forced to refund at least one person’s $10,000 payment (plus legal fees) for the not-quite autonomous driving software. France, too, is piling on claims of deceptive business practices – but there’s some good news for FSD fans! If you’re still willing to pay for it, Tesla will thrown in 0% financing on a brand new Cybertruck.
Check out the relevant links, below, to learn more.
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