Tesla asks car owners not to use a «life hack» known to electric car owners. They wrapped the handle of the Supercharger charging cable with a damp towel — supposedly this increases the power and speed of charging.
The idea is that the towel cools the handle — this avoids limiting charging power on hot days (probably by misleading the sensors). One of the owners of the Model S said said that his car was charging at 60 kW, and wrapping it in a towel increased the speed to 95 kW. At Out Of Spec Studios told that this hack helped prevent power trotting from 147 kW to 58 kW — a damp cloth at room temperature increased the speed to 119 kW.
Concerns about using wet things with electricity are misplaced, as all car charging devices and outlets are designed to withstand rain. But Tesla has another reason not to recommend this trick to owners.
«Placing a damp cloth on the Supercharger cable handles does not increase charging speed and interferes with the temperature sensors, creating a risk of overheating or damage. Please refrain from doing so so that our systems can function properly and can detect genuine charging issues», — Tesla said on the X.
Inside EVs states they found that this method only works on older V2 Superchargers, as the newer ones already have a cooled handle. The exception is Cybertruck, whose 800V system functions as a pair of 400V batteries and can make even cooled V3 Superchargers’ handles hot.
Source: Carscoops