Tesla urges not to wrap a wet towel around the Supercharger charger

Tesla is urging car owners to avoid a "life hack" commonly known among electric vehicle owners. They have been wrapping the Supercharger cable handle with a wet towel—allegedly, this increases charging power and speed.

The idea is that the towel cools the handle—this helps to bypass power limitations during hot days (likely misleading the sensors). One Model S owner claims that his vehicle charged at a power of 60 kW, but using the towel increased the speed to 95 kW. Out Of Spec Studios reported that this hack helped prevent throttling from 147 kW down to 58 kW—the damp cloth at room temperature raised the speed to 119 kW.

Concerns about using wet items around electricity are unfounded, as all devices and charging outlets for vehicles are designed to withstand rain. However, Tesla has another reason for not recommending this trick to owners.

Placing a wet cloth on Supercharger cable handles does not increase charging rates and interferes with temperature monitors creating risk of overheating or damage. Please refrain from doing this so our systems can run correctly, and true charging issues can be detected by our…

— Tesla Charging (@TeslaCharging) July 25, 2024

“Placing a wet cloth on the handles of the Supercharger cables does not increase charging speed and interferes with temperature sensors, posing a risk of overheating or damage. Please refrain from this so our systems can function properly and true charging issues can be identified,” Tesla stated on X.

Inside EVs claims that this method is effective only on older V2 Superchargers, as newer models already feature handle cooling. An exception is the Cybertruck, whose 800 V system operates like a pair of 400 V batteries and can even make the cooled handles of V3 Superchargers hot.

Source: Carscoops