ⓘ Tesla
Tesla has given the new Roadster something else to boast about besides flying stunts and insane one-second acceleration. During Roadster's track days, the supercar can do very short stops to recuperate the rapid discharge of the 4680 battery.
Tesla listed the range of its newest Roadster as being over 300 miles on a charge, but when one takes the supercar on the track to test its insane acceleration specs, that charge is bound to dissipate quickly. According to Tesla's chief engineer Lars Moravy, the Roadster may have to be charged every half hour when going full throttle at the track, and the team developed a dedicated 4680 battery to make sustained performance possible.
The Roadster runs on the same 4680 cylindrical battery form factor and 800V powertrain architecture as the Cybertruck and the Semi. Moravy's team, however, tweaked the battery chemistry and packaging to allow for topping it up in ten minutes, making the Roadster the fastest-charging Tesla car in the process.
Needless to say, a 15%-80% charge in ten minutes isn't exactly impressive when compared to BYD's Flash Charge system that does a near-complete 10%-97% charge in the same amount of time, but it is still very fast for a Tesla EV. It would be interesting to learn more about the changes to the 4680 battery pack that allow such fast charging, too, as Tesla's cylindrical cells were developed with 50% cost savings in mind, rather than any performance and top-up records.
In fact, Tesla has had trouble getting the 4680 battery off the ground when it comes to the charging curve ever since the initial Model Y units were equipped with the first generation. The Cybertruck that uses second-generation 4680 Cybercells and an 800V powertrain also has issues sustaining the charging power even at Tesla's 500 kW V4 Superchargers. A teardown comparison between the BYD Blade and 4680 cells showed inferior energy density and thermal inefficiency for Tesla's battery.
Still, after mastering the dry cathode production method, Tesla kept tweaking the manufacturing process of its 4680 battery with the goal of making it the cheapest cell per kWh to produce in the US, and it has apparently managed to improve the chemistry enough to allow for a 10-minute charge on the Roadster. Lars only mentioned that the 4680 cells come with a high-power chemistry and lighter aluminum cans instead of steel, but the double-sided cooling might be one of the reasons that the pack can now sustain higher charging rates for longer.
Ten minutes is a real step forward for Tesla, too, as in the US, the closest premium rivals are the Porsche Taycan and Audi e-tron GT, which peak at 320 kW, enough for a 10 to 80% top-up in around 18 minutes. On paper, the Roadster charges even faster, but the count is from 15% battery, while the real test will be when Tesla's flying car is taken to the track and has to do multiple fast charging sessions a day.
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