The market launch of the Tesla Cybertruck is just around the corner, but some wonder whether the all-electric pickup will be compatible with the Tesla Semi’s charging infrastructure or just with the general NACS charging points (like the Model 3/Model Y and Model S/Model X).
Last month, we saw one of the Cybertruck test vehicles with a North American Charging Standard (NACS) charging inlet, located behind the rear wheel.
Meanwhile, the Tesla Semi is equipped with a completely different and much larger charging connector, which we reported on previously. Below we can see the Semi’s charging inlet (left image) and the initial prototype (right image):
The NACS charging connector is promised to offer a charging capability of up to one megawatt and supports voltage of up to 1,000 volts (500 V in the current version, and 1,000 in the second version in the future). Those numbers sound good enough for electric pickups.
However, 1 MW level is just a starting point for Class 8 semi-trucks like the Tesla Semi. Tesla said in late 2022, that its fast charging system in the Semi (with V4 charging cable and a new Megacharging plug) offers 1+ MW level of power, which will be applied to the upcoming Tesla Cybertruck.
However, we are not really sure whether the Tesla Cybertruck will be equipped with a separate Tesla Megacharging inlet (on top of the NACS), or if the company will just offer 1 MW charging using the NACS charging connector.
This question was recently raised by Teslarati, which noted that a new Tesla Megacharging station in Baker, California, has Megacharging stalls (with the new large DC plug) without a pull-through layout (like at the Giga Nevada), preferred for the large Class 8 semi-trucks. It appears like it would be intended to support a smaller vehicle – a pickup maybe and parking in reverse (a Semi without a trailer potentially also would fit, but it does not seem convenient).
Building such Megacharging stalls suggest that maybe there will be compatibility between the Tesla Megachargers and the Tesla Cybertruck.
The compatibility can be achieved through the installation of two charging inlets (NACS and MCU) on the vehicle side, or the use of adapters (stand-alone or built-in into the charging stall).
It’s worth noting that Tesla is focusing on its own proprietary charging solutions. Tesla’s NACS charging connector for cars is expected to be gradually adopted by the entire EV industry in North America in favor of CharIn’s Combined Charging System (CCS1).
Meanwhile, in the Tesla Semi, the company uses its own in-house developed Megacharging solution (MCU appears to be the new sign on the stalls), while CharIn is working on a Megawatt Charging System (MCS), which has a completely different connector.
If nothing changes, we will soon see two competing charging solutions for all-electric trucks, both offering very high charging power output (potentially up to a few megawatts).
Well, there are a lot of questions regarding Tesla’s new fast charging solution on both ends – internally (Cybertruck and Semi) and externally (compatibility with the MCS).
