2024 Tesla Model 3 wins fastest charging in the gas station stop test

Until the launch of the Cybertruck not long ago, Tesla's renowned electric vehicles didn't sport a modern 800V architecture.

Most of Tesla's major competitors have been offering cars with 800V fast charging abilities that can top up in 20 minutes for a good while now.

Those include both juggernauts like NIO, XPeng, or BYD, which Tesla faces head on in China, and local competitors like Hyundai, KIA, Porsche, and others.

Even Tesla's Cybertruck, ostensibly its fastest charging EV, is far from the promised 20-minute charging time, even on performance chargers that can take advantage of its 800V architecture.

Tesla, however, has an ace up its sleeve, and it is called the Supercharger network. Tesla rightfully concluded that it doesn't need to outfit each and every car with an 800V charging system, given that the vast majority of the current network consists of predominantly 400V stations.

When it focused on its EV charging network, i.e. before it laid off the whole Supercharger team, Tesla focused on the speed of expansion. It wanted to quickly obtain permits, and devised ways to build a Supercharger station in 4 days with prefabs.

It now says it will focus on bettering its existing stations delivery and uptime, and that is when the real V4 fast charging magic may happen.

Tesla Model 3 aces the gas station test

As if to support its case, Tesla now received a fast charging award for the Model 3 Highland, of all vehicles. The car sports a 400V system, and yet it managed to beat its competitors in the so-called gas station test.

Devised by independent automotive consultancy AMCI, the MP6 test aims to recreate the typical gas station stop experience, but for electric cars.

Drivers with ICE vehicles typically spend about 6 minutes pumping gas at a station, and the test aims to gauge how much range an EV can add in the same amount of time.

Effectively, MP6 assumes consumers should not need to alter their long-standing fueling habits—nor the amount of time they are willing to dedicate to enroute fueling. MP6 clearly shows how many miles of range each EV can add within this essential and expected 6-minute window.

Thanks to the integrated experience of Tesla cars with their Superchargers, the Model 3 Highland managed to add more than 60 miles in the gas station test. That's nearly double the rate of most of its competitors that AMCI tested, even the 800V Hyundais.

"The IONIQ 5 has impressive range-prediction accuracy and the potential for very fast charging if you can find a system to take advantage of its 800-volt architecture," says AMCI.

Given that the Supercharger network is the largest out there, and Tesla cars can take the best advantage of its abilities, the Model 3 and Model Y may keep acing said gas station test, despite the lack of an 800V system.

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