How long does it take to charge an electric car on 110V

How Fast Does an EV Charge at 110 Volts? Best Sellers Ranked

Just about every new EV that you purchase today will throw in a Level 1 EVSE (Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment) for you to charge at home, and some now even include a Level 2 EVSE. The first question everyone has regarding their Level 1 EVSE is how quickly an EV can be charged.

An average EV will gain about 4-7 miles per hour of level 1 charging and can take 2-3 days to fully charge from empty. Level 1 charging is the slowest EV charging method and is done at 120 volts of alternating current from a typical household receptacle with either 15 or 20 amps on a dedicated breaker.

In this quick article, well take a look at how the top 11 best selling EV models stack up against each other when it comes to level 1 charging, and how to quickly calculate these numbers yourself.

If youre interested in how long it would take to charge an EV at Level 2 and Level 3 charging, you can check out my other article here.

How Fast is Level 1 EV Charging?

Level 1 charging at 120-volts will charge at a speed of 1.44kw with a 15-amp breaker and 1.92kw with a 20-amp breaker. These speeds will fully charge an average electric vehicle in 2-3 days and replenish about 4-7 driving miles per hour of charging.

Level 1 charging uses the standard outlet in your home that youre used to plugging almost everything into. That outlet has 120 volts, which is essentially the pressure behind the electricity.

If you trace the wires from your outlet back through the walls, theyll all converge at your main breaker box. Inside that box youll generally see that the 120-volt breakers are either 15-amp or 20-amp in size.

A 15-amp breaker might be used for a bedroom, whereas the kitchen would have a 20-amp breaker to handle the appliances that youll be using there.

It is recommended to have a dedicated breaker for your EV when charging, which means that you wont be powering anything else except your EV from that breaker.

A breaker will run at 80% of the number on the breaker itself. So, a 20-amp breaker will actually operate at 16 amps. It can go a little higher for short periods before tripping, but it doesnt want to exceed 80%.

That being said, a 15-amp breaker will run at 12 amps, and the 20-amp breaker will run at 16. The total kilowatts that theyll put out is laid out below:

• 15-amp breaker: 120-volts x 12-amps = 1,440 watts, or 1.44kw
• 20-amp breaker: 120-volts x 16-amps = 1,920 watts, or 1.92kw.

How Long Does it Take to Charge an EV with Level 1 Charging?

To calculate how long it will take to charge an EV with level 1 charging, you need to first identify how many kWh (kilowatt hours) you need to replace in your EV battery.

Take the following steps to figure out how to determine the kWh to be charged:

• Step 1: Find the net battery capacity of your vehicle (or usable portion of the battery for propulsion) using this website
• Step 2: See what percentage your battery is at and subtract that number from 100
• Step 3: Multiply the number from Step 2 as a percentage (0.XX) by the total net battery capacity
• Step 4: Multiply the total kilowatts of your breaker (1.44 for a 15-amp breaker, or 1.92 for a 20-amp breaker) by the charging efficiency (Im using 0.8, which is close to typical in decent conditions)
• Step 5: Divide the answer in Step 3 by the answer in Step 4

Example:

Lets look at the Tesla Model Y on the top row of the table below. Lets pretend that the battery is at 5% state of charge and the total Net Capacity is 75kWh. The breaker were using is a 20-amp breaker and well roll with a 20% inefficiency (or 80% efficiency factor).

• 100 5 = 95% that needs to be recharged
• 0.95 x 75kWh = 71.25kWh to be recharged
• 71.25kWh / 1.92 = 37.11 Hours to charge before charging inefficiencies are factored in
• 37.11 hours / 0.8 = 46.4 hours to charge

I did all of the calculations in the table below by calculating the charging time for replenishing 100% of the battery capacity and not a fraction of it.

This table shows the Level 1 charging times (in hours) with 15 and 20-amp breakers for the top 11 selling EV models in the last year.

How Many Miles of Driving Range per Hour with Level 1 Charging?

On average, an electric vehicle will gain 4-7 miles of driving range per hour of Level 1 charging. Level 1 charging provides 1.44-1.92kW of power per hour, and an average EV will get 3-5 miles of range per kilowatt hour.

You can calculate a solid ballpark estimate of the total miles of range gained per hour for your particular model, or any model that youre looking at.

• Step 1: Locate your EVs EPA MPGe rating (miles per gallon equivalent) with this website and divide the MPGe by 33.7
• Step 2: Multiply your answer from Step 1 by either 1.44kW for a 15-amp breaker, or 1.92kW for a 20-amp breaker
• Step 3: Multiply your answer from Step 2 by the charging efficiency factor (Again, I use 0.8, but you could use as low as 0.6 for really cold weather, or 0.9 great conditions)

Example:

A 2020 Tesla Model Y has an EPA combined MPGe of 111 (you can use city, or highway if thats what your primary driving consists of), well be charging with a 20-amp breaker, and our efficiency factor will be 0.8.

• 111 / 33.7 = 3.29 miles per kilowatt hour
• 3.29 x 1.92kw = 6.32 miles of range before inefficiencies
• 6.32 x 0.8 = 5.1 miles of range per hour of Level 1 charging at 20-amps

Below you can check out the top selling 11 models over the last year and how many miles they gain per hour of Level 1 charging with 15 and 20 amps.

How Long Does it Take To Charge an Electric Car?

This post, part of a series we're running all about electric cars, was written by Kristen Hall-Geisler from HowStuffWorks.com.

Coming soon to a garage near you: Electric vehicles! Big-name auto makers like Nissan, Ford, and Mitsubishi are scheduled for major EV releases in the next year or so, while small car makers are busy building small electric vehicles for short trips around the neighborhood. There's no question that you like the planet; and everyone knows you like new technology, too. But how long will an EV will have to be plugged into the wall before it's ready for its next silent neighborhood mission?

The quick answer to that question is overnight. Most EVs that will be on the market within the next few years will need to be plugged in overnight to fully charge. But the correct answer, as with so many things, is, "it depends." It depends on the type of batteries in the car and it depends on the type of outlet you're using to charge the thing up.

Let's take a few real-world examples:

- The Nissan LEAF uses lithium-ion batteries, just like your laptop and your cell phone, but it uses a lot more of them. It can charge overnight (8 hours) at a 220/240-volt Nissan charging dock that's installed in your garage. It can also charge at a 110/120-volt outlet, the kind you plug your laptop and cell phone into, but it'll take far, far longer.

- The sexy Tesla Roadster uses lithium-ion batteries, too, but the 240-volt Tesla High Power Wall Connector, as they call it, can charge that baby in a mere 3.5 hours. But before you open your wallet, you should know that this is also one of the most expensive EVs on the road.

- A little neighborhood electric vehicle (NEV), like the cars from GEM (Global Electric Motorcars), uses lead-acid batteries. This technology is older, proven to be reliable and charges in about 6 to 8 hours at a standard 110-volt outlet. So what's the tradeoff? A maximum speed of just 25 miles per hour (40.2 kilometers per hour).

So the heavy-duty recharging will happen in your home (over the course of several hours) at the charging station designed for your specific vehicle. But most of the cars coming to market in the next few years, like the Nissan LEAF, for instance, will allow you to "top off" at a standard outlet for a little extra juice while you're out and about.

How long does it take to charge an electric car?

Its no secret that it takes a little longer to top up an electric car than a petrol or diesel-powered model. Even if you use one of the fastest ultra-rapid chargers around, itll still take your average EV around half-an-hour, or possibly longer, to go from 10-80% charge.

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Its not all doom and gloom though that 10-80% top up represents hundreds of miles of added range you can put into your car in just a few minutes. Plus, if you don't plan on doing many journeys longer than your EVs maximum range, youre probably going to do the majority of your charging at home, overnight.

So, while there isnt oneanswer to the question how long does it takes to charge an electric car?, here we explain the main charging options at your disposal and the difference each one makes to the amount of time your car will need to spend plugged in.

Home charging

The amount of time it takes to charge an electric depends on two factors: the speed of the charger youre using, which is measured in kW, and the size of the battery youre topping up, measured in kWh. A quick way to know how long it'll take to charge your electric car is to use the simple formula: total charging time = kWh kW.

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For example, if youre planning to fully replenish an EV with a 77kWh battery using a 7kW wallbox, that will take 11 hours. Some wallboxes are even faster though, capable of speeds up to 11kW or even 22kW, but these require three-phase electricity supply and are more expensive to buy.

Most home wallboxes or home chargers provide around 7kW, which is plenty to top up your average overnight. This is also the speed slower public charging points like those on Londons streets will provide, which allows those without private parking or a driveway where they can install a wallbox to get an electric car.

It is true that you can charge an electric via a standard three-pin domestic socket, but these can only draw a maximum of 3kW, and some car manufacturers advise against using mains sockets for regular charging, as the high amperage drawn over such a long period of time can cause overheating of the socket. Therefore, we recommend consulting a qualified electrician if youre likely to regularly charge your electric vehicle from a standard mains socket, but a wallbox remains the better option for speed and reliability, if you can have one installed.

Public charging

The UKs network of public EV charging points has grown exponentially over the past few years. As of June 2022, there are more than 32,000 individual chargers across the country, and thatfigure is stillclimbing. There are several types of public chargers fast, rapid and ultra-rapid each capable of certain speeds.

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Fast chargers are capable of speeds ranging from 7 to 22kW, and are ideal for overnight charging if you dont have your own wallbox, or topping up your car while shopping or at work. These usually dont have a cable built-in, so just be sure youve got your charging cable with you if you plan on using one.

Then theres rapid and ultra-rapid chargers, which will reach speeds upwards of 50kW and 150kW respectively, with the absolute fastest ultra-rapid chargers out there right now providing 350kW. Using one of these chargers, a 10-80% top-up of your average EV will take just over half-an-hour, or just 20 minutes if you get one with the latest tech.

Whats more, rapid chargers and ultra-rapid chargers are now much more commonplace, and youll even find them in supermarket car parks, fast food restaurants and plenty of service stations. Dedicated EV charging hubs and forecourts featuring dozens of charging points are also being erected to service the thousands of EV drivers on British roads. If youre struggling to locate these types of chargers, apps like Zap-Map can help you find those near you or a destination, and show you what network runs them and the speeds theyre capable of.

Rapid and ultra-rapid chargers havea built-in cable and feature two types of connector:CCSandCHAdeMO. The latter is much less common and is only found on some models like the Nissan Leaf, Kia Soul EV and Lexus UX 300e, while you'll find a CCS connector on most new electric cars. Plus, the fastest ultra-rapid chargers don't have aCHAdeMO cable, so just be aware.

Its also worth noting that because the charger youre using can reach 350kW, doesnt mean your battery will be topped up at that rate. One reason is your car might not be capable of charging that fast, so its worth finding out the maximum charging speed of any EV youre looking at, especially if you do lots of long journeys and may need to use rapid chargers a far bit.

Finally, when using a rapid charger and you get to 80%, the rate of charge will start to slow down. This is to protect the health of the cars battery, so its more efficient to stop charging at 80% and continue on your way, even if that means stopping for another charge later in your journey only charge it to 100% when you really need to.

Welcome one and all, Im Ellis the news reporter on Auto Express, the brands former online reviews editor and contributor to DrivingElectric. Im proud to say I cut my teeth reporting and reviewing all things EV as the content editor on DrivingElectric. I joined the team while completing my masters degree in automotive journalism at Coventry University and since then Ive driven just about every electric car and hybrid I could get my hands on.