Tesla against wet towels. The company urges not to wrap the electric car charger with them

Tesla urges car owners to refrain from using the “life hack” with the Supercharger charging cable. It consists in wrapping the handle with a wet towel to mislead the temperature sensors. When the charging power and speed increase, the handle heats up and charging stops. A wet towel cools the handle, which helps avoid limiting charging power on hot days. Temperature sensors are for cowards – probably think Darwin Award enthusiasts.

One Tesla Model S owner claims that his car was charging at 60 kW, and using a wet towel allowed the speed to increase to 95 kW. Out Of Spec Studios noted that this method helped prevent the power drop from 147kW to 58kW, increasing the speed to 119kW with a damp cloth at room temperature.

While worries about using wet items with electrical devices seem unfounded, since car chargers and outlets are designed to work in the rain, Tesla has another reason not to recommend this trick.

According to Inside EVs, the method only works on older V2 Supercharger charging stations, as the newer versions are already equipped with a handle cooling system. The exception is the Cybertruck, whose 800V system functions as a pair of 400V batteries and heats even the cooled V3 Supercharger grips hot.

For e-vehicle users reference

Any car has parts that can burn – upholstery, plastic elements, wiring, etc. However, an electric car has a part that is especially dangerous – a lithium-ion battery.

Most electric cars are currently equipped with such batteries. Not only do such batteries contain a large amount of electricity, which can lead to a short circuit and a fire, but also when the battery is damaged, uncontrolled chemical reactions occur, resulting in the release of oxygen. This contributes to the rapid deployment and violent combustion of the battery. In fact, a closed-loop fire occurs – some compounds disintegrate and release oxygen, which supports the combustion of other chemical elements.

To extinguish the fire, you need to surround the car or fill it with materials with high heat capacity, which will cool the electric car.