How long does it take to fully charge an electric car

How long does it take to charge an electric car?

Rapid charging

On paper, this is by far the fastest way of topping up the batteries in your EV, with some chargers able to deliver a significant injection of energy within just 20 minutes. Charging at anything from 50kW to up to 350kW, these units are usually found at motorway service stations and dedicated charging hubs. Youll need a car that can handle this type of DC charging, and for best results youll only charge up to 80 percent of the batterys capacity, because beyond this point the rate of charge slows significantly to protect the cells from the high temperatures involved in such high electrical currents.

Of course to make use of this capability youll need a car with a charging system that can accept rapid charging. Most entry-level models are available with an optional upgrade that allows DC charging of up to 100kW, while more expensive models such as the Tesla Model 3 and Model S can charge at a rate of 250kW. Some variants of the Porsche Taycan and closely related Audi e-tron GT use an 800 volt electrical system thatcan handle up to 270kW, as do the the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6, which can accept charge at up to 200kW. And when Lucid Motors Air goes on sale next year it will be able to charge at up to 300kW.

To give an idea of speed, a 40kW Nissan Leaf using a 50kW charger (currently the most popular in the UK, but more 150 and 350kW units are coming on stream all the time) can be charged to 80 percent of its capacity in as little as an hour, which is around the same time it takes to charge a 75kWh Tesla using a 150kW charger. On a 350kW charger the Taycan takes just over 22 minutes to go from five to 80 percent charge.

However, bear in mind that regardless of the power of the charger itself, your car will only be able to charge at the maximum rate of its onboard system. So a Leaf with a 50kW charging capability will receive current at this rate even when plugged into a 350kW charger.

What is top-up charging?

This is the method that most EV drivers take advantage of, which is to plug in and charge whenever you get an opportunity, usually at a public charger on the street or in the supermarket car park. So rather than waiting for the battery to run flat completely, its actually easier and quicker to simply keep the cells topped-up, which means youll usually have plenty of charge and so rarely suffer from range anxiety. Owners usually combine this technique with a full charge overnight using a domestic slow or rapid charger.

Electric Vehicle Charging Explained

How much does it cost to charge an electric car?

The average EV driver will spend 60 percent less on fueling costs compared to the average gas vehicle in their class. But electricity still isnt free, and youll have to do a little math to determine what charging will run you.

Most EV owners regularly charge at home, which means the cost of electricity where you live and when you charge your car will determine your bill. To get a rough estimate of your monthly charging costs at home, multiply your cars kilowatt-hour (kWh)/100 miles rate (the EV equivalent of miles per gallon) by your electricity rate, which you can find on your utility bill. This will give you the electricity cost per 100 miles driven.

Note that charging your car overnight, when electricity demand and price drop, can save you as much as 30 percent. If you forgo charging at home and go with public charging stations, particularly the ultra-speedy DC fast chargers, youll be paying a premium.

But if you want to skip the math, know this: Charging at home is roughly the equivalent of fueling up on a dollar-a-gallon gasoline, according to NRDC senior attorney Max Baumhefner.

Where are the electric vehicle charging stations near me?

EV charging stations arent as ubiquitous as gas stationsbut thats likely to change. Encouragingly, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law dedicated $7.5 billion to build out half a million more public charging stations. Plus, as the market share of EVs grows, expect local governments, utilities, and private electric vehicle charging companies like ChargePoint and Tesla to build out their networks too. But even now, theres a good chance you can find at least a few public chargers near you.

You can use a public charging station applike ChargeHub, PlugShare, or Chargemapto filter nearby locations by available plug type.

Keep in mind that some charging companies require you to have a membership to recharge your EV at their stations, which means you may need a physical membership card or to log in with your phone. If you drive a Tesla, the cars navigation points you to their proprietary network of Superchargers, which only Tesla drivers can visit (at least for now).

Are electric vehicles worth it?

Rest assured that choosing to drive an EVand learning how to charge itis well worth your time: The average EV consumer saves thousands of dollars across the life of the car, spares the community toxic tailpipe emissions, and helps us ditch climate-destroying fossil fuels for good.

How long does it take to charge an electric car? What you need to know

Recharging an electric car is not like filling up a tank of gas. For starters you can find free EV chargers, despite opposition, and recharge your car for nothing. That said gasoline only takes few minutes to get yourself on the road again, while recharging can take some time. That might be an obstacle depending on how far you tend to drive.

But how long does it take to recharge an electric car? Thats not an easy question to answer, on account of how different every electric car battery is. It all depends on how big the battery is, and how much power it can actually take in one go. Also cold weather can effect an EV's battery, thanks to the laws of thermodynamics.

But we can give you a good idea on what sort of times to expect. Here's how long it takes to drive an electric car.

Electric car charging types and speed estimates

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There are three different kinds of electric car chargers out there at the moment: Slow, Fast, and Rapid. While the names are fairly self-explanatory, its important for any prospective electric car owner to understand the difference between them all.

Car charging speed is measured in kilowatts, which is also written as kW. Classifying a charger as slow, fast, or rapid all depends on that speed, and naturally the higher the number the faster your car will recharge.

Level 1 (slow) charging: Slow, or Level 1 charging means your charging speed is under 7kW. Typically these chargers are around 3kW, though 5kW slow chargers do exist. Slow chargers utilize alternating current (AC), and can take anything from several hours to a few days to fully recharge a car.

Level 2 (fast) charging: This covers the 7kW to 22kW range, and can recharge your cars battery much faster than a slow charger. While they are not particularly fast, they will typically recharge your car in a few hours. Though, as ever, its all dependent on which car you have. Fast chargers also use AC power.

Level 3 (rapid) charging: Rapid charging is the fastest type of electric car charging available, and includes speeds upwards of 50kW. Theres no hard limit on what constitutes a Rapid charger, and there are chargers out there that can offer up to 350kW speeds. They are rare, and very few cars can actually handle that much power.

Most rapid chargers you encounter will likely be between 50kW and 150kW, though higher speeds do exist. Tesla owners, for instance, will be able to take advantage of the companys 250kW Superchargers, which have been built across the United States. Rapid chargers can usually recharge your car in around an hour. They utilize Direct Current (DC) power.

Its also worth noting that while chargers can offer certain maximum speeds, your cars recharge speed will fully depend on the car itself. So an 11 kW fast charger will only dish out 7 kW speeds if the car its plugged into cant handle anything faster. So you need to be familiar with your own cars capabilities, and the recharge specs provided by the manufacturer.

Be sure to read our Should you fast charge an electric car guide for more info.

Electric car charging: How fast can these popular EVs recharge?

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Slow charging

Slow chargers are, as the name suggests, slow. Very slow, in fact, because they dont use a very high voltage, and are often referred to as trickle chargers. These chargers are usually glorified mains sockets, and the speeds youll be getting are comparable to purchasing a special adapter and plugging your car into the wall like you would a phone or a TV.

As an example, recharging a 40 kWh battery from 20% to 80% on a 3kW charger will take you around 9 hours. But if you tried to go from 1% all the way to 100%, it could take almost 15 hours. Meanwhile, an 82 kWh battery takes over 18 hours to slow charge from 20% to 80%. 1% to 100% would take you an insane 30 hours to complete.

Those figures are only rough estimates, but it gives you an idea of just how slow it is to slow charge a car.

So these are the chargers you will want to avoid out in the world, unless you have a considerable amount of time to kill while your car recharges. Thankfully, youre not likely to come across any, and their painfully slow recharging speed is to blame.

You may be able to get a slow charger installed at home, though you're better off either installing a fast charger or seeing if your cars manufacturer sells an adapter you can plug into a wall socket.

Fast charging

In most situations your car is going to be plugged into a fast charger. Not only are they significantly faster than slow charging, they recharge slowly enough to minimize degradation in the battery. So you get a healthy balance, ensuring your car is always topped up and ready to go, while maximizing the lifespan of the battery.

Thats going to be especially useful if your car has a large battery. An 82 kWh battery takes roughly 13 hours to fully recharge on a 7kW fast charger, or just under 8 hours to go between 20% and 80%. Meanwhile, a 40 kWh battery will take just over 6 hours to fully recharge, or just under 4 hours to go from 20% to 80%. Again these are estimates, and actual cars may differ in practice.

Rapid charging

Rapid charging is the fastest way to recharge your car, but its not something you should do regularly. Lithium batteries are pretty fickle things and tend to degrade a lot faster when regularly exposed to high voltage.

Or, at the very least, when regularly exposed to the excess heat faster charging speeds can produce. Battery degradation affects the amount of charge it can hold, so the more it degrades, the worse your range is going to get.

A lot of cars are coming with better and better cooling systems to stop the battery overheating and lessen degradation these days. But its still good practice to avoid rapid chargers whenever possible. Thats not to say you should never use a rapid charger. Just make sure that its either your absolute last resort, or youre mid-trip and need to recharge as fast as physically possible.

Rapid chargers do make long trips possible as well. Theyre pretty commonplace, and even the slowest 50kW chargers can bring an 82kWh battery from 20 to 80% in an hour. Recharging from 1% to 100% takes about double that time. The 40kWh battery should take around an hour to go from 1% all the way to 100%, or just over half an hour to go from 20% to 80%.

Electric car charging: How much recharging should you do?

Your instincts might tell you to try and recharge your car back to 100% every time, but you should try and avoid this. Why? Because its not good for the battery. So if you want to maximize the lifespan of your cars battery, avoiding a full charge is one of a number of things you can do.

The general advice given to EV owners is to keep your cars charge somewhere between 20% and 80%. Because sitting around with too much charge isnt good for it, and neither is having too little. Thats true of all lithium ion batteries, whether theyre in your car, your phone or your laptop.

Simply put, a lithium battery is filled with lithium ions that move around between two different layers: lithium-metal oxide and graphite. If all the lithium ions are in the metal-oxide layer, it means you have a 100% charge, and if theyre all in the graphite layer it means you have 0% charge.

The problem is having too many ions in one layer causes it to expand, which puts strain on the battery and increases the speed of degradation. It doesnt matter which extreme youre talking about, theyre both bad. So you want to avoid these situations as much as possible.

50% charge is the real sweet spot, since it means the ions positioning is evenly split, but thats not really practical. So good practice is to keep everything between 20% and 80% unless absolutely necessary, like youre about to take a long trip and need every last kWh of power to get you there.

The good news here is that charging to 80% is a lot easier than charging to 100%, and not just because youre adding less power to the car.

Have you ever noticed how a lot of tech companies advertise fast charging speed up to the 80% mark? Thats because the more power your battery has, the slower it charges, and 80% is the point where charging speed nosedives. Even rapid chargers, which can offer insanely fast recharge speeds, slow to a near-trickle as you edge closer to 100%.

Trying to reach 100% can add a few extra hours onto your total recharge time, so its just not worth doing unless you absolutely have to. The fact youre keeping the battery in better health is just an added bonus.

Electric car charging: Your options

If youre thinking about buying an electric car, there are two main options. The first, and most inconvenient, option is to rely on public chargers. The other is to do it at home, if you can.

As weve discussed before, public charging should only really be your go-to charging method if you cant recharge at home. Whether thats because you have to park on the street, your garage doesnt have power or some other reason.

Not only is public charging more expensive than charging at home, but its viability depends on how good the electric car charging infrastructure is in your local area. If you can charge at home, then you should. Even if you cant get a dedicated home charger installed.

Electric vehicles can be recharged from a standard wall power socket, provided you have the right adapter, but this process is very slow. As we mentioned earlier, even the smallest electric car batteries can take a dozen or so hours to recharge. Thats not the kind of thing you want if you need to use your car regularly.

When it comes to balancing speed and convenience, installing a fast charger at home is the most appropriate course of action. You can expect to pay between $400 and $700 for a basic wall-mounted Level 2 charger.

Fortunately U.S. federal tax credits mean you can claim 30% of the cost of a home charger, up to a value of $1,000. Likewise in the U.K. the Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme (EVHS) means the government provides 75% (up to 350) towards the cost of a home charger. But both are dependent on you actually owning a qualifying plug-in electric car.

But even opting for a 7kW charger, which is cheaper than the faster 22kW chargers some newer cars can use, is worth doing. Not only is a fast charger a vast improvement over slow or mains chargers, its much better for your battery than relying on public rapid chargers.

If your car has a charging timer, we suggest you utilize it when youre plugged in. That way youre not going to accidentally overcharge the battery because you forgot to unplug it at the right time.

Read next: how to charge your electric car at home and learn about electric car tax credits.