The first V4 Tesla Supercharger station has opened in the UK

‘Hang on,’ you’re thinking, ‘couldn’t all electric cars already use Tesla Superchargers in the UK?’ You’re bang on: the network partially opened up to EVs of all shapes and badges in May last year.

‘And wait a minute,’ you may also be wondering, ‘couldn’t the old V3 chargers already belt out 250kW?’ You’re two for two: that headline rate is exactly the same as it was in 2019.

However, Tesla insists that these shiny new V4 units will be able to unlock even greater charging speeds in the future, and there are a couple of additions for the present day that are worthy of your attention.

The main thing is the contactless payment pad, which means you can PAYG if you’re not driving a Tesla. Though you can still use the Tesla app if you prefer.

And that 3m cable is designed to make reaching your charging port - whether it be front-, rear- or otherwise-mounted - as easy as possible. No more parking at funny angles to make it reach, hooray! It’s a CCS socket, naturally.

The first bank of V4 Superchargers are now open for business at the Tesla Centre in Tottenham, with the ribbon cutting done by Transport Minister Jesse Norman.

Apparently Tesla’s now opened 200 new Superchargers at 17 different locations throughout the UK and Ireland this year, with more on the way before 2023 is done and dusted.

Several existing sites will soon make the V4 switchover too, and ‘the majority’ (but weirdly, not all) of new locations will utilise the latest tech.

Tesla claims uptime of 99.5 per cent across its 1,100 UK Superchargers, which are spread over 110 sites.

Excellent. Now can we have the Model S and Model X in right-hand drive again please?