How long does it take to charge an electric car?

Weather

 

Charging times can be affected by the weather. Both extremely hot and extremely cold temperatures can affect the battery and charging process.

 

If it’s very cold outside, the battery needs to warm up first before it can charge at faster speeds. This means charging can take longer in winter. When the temperature drops to 20°F (-6.5°C) and the HVAC system is used to heat the inside of the vehicle, the average driving range is decreased by 41% (Source: AAA)

 

The battery’s range can also be affected by heat. When outside temperatures heat up to 95°F (35°C) and air-conditioning is used inside the vehicle, driving range decreases by 17% (Source: AAA). High temperatures can also damage batteries during charging. High temperatures increase the effective force of the electric current that drives lithium ions from one node of the battery to the other, causing physical stress and damage on the receiving end (Source: Recurrent Auto)

 

Battery capacity

 

The higher the kW, the longer it will take to charge. However, the larger the battery size, the larger the range. Cars with larger battery sizes (such as 60 kW) will have to recharge less than cars with a smaller battery size (such as 30 kW).

 

 

kW output of charge point

 

The higher the kW output of the charger, the faster it will charge. At home charge points are typically around 7kW. There are some ‘supercharger’ charge points at certain destinations. For example, the Tesla supercharger’s output can range up to 250kW (Source: Tesla).

 

 

Maximum charge rate of car

Using a high kW output charger can be irrelevant if the charger kW exceeds the car’s maximum charge rate. For example, the Mini Electric maximum charge rate is 11 kW. Even if it was plugged into a 22kW charger, it would be limited to a rate of 11kW, and therefore wouldn’t charge any quicker on a 22kW than it would do on an 11kW charger.

 

 

Battery percentage

Charging the battery from 10% will take longer than it would from charging it from 70%. Making a short charge when the car is already at a decent level of charge is referred to as ‘top-up charging’, and is what the majority of EV drivers do, rather than doing a full charge.

 

 

How to calculate the charge time of an electric car

 

Typically, you can calculate the circa charging time of an electric car by a simple sum: Battery size ÷ charging power = charge time.

 

 

Examples (Times are approximate):

 

 

Tesla Model 3 (standard) 50kW

 

Workplace charging with EO Genius 22kW = 2 hours 15 minutes

 

Home charging with an Indra Smart Pro 7.4kW = 6 hours 45 minutes

 

Home charging with EO Mini Pro 7.2kW = 7 hours

 

Mini Electric 32.6kW

 

 

Workplace charging with EO Genius 22kW = 4 hours 30 minutes

 

Home charging with an Indra Smart Pro 7.4kW = 4 hours 20 minutes

 

Home charging with EO Mini Pro 7.2kW = 4 hours 30 minutes

 

 

Kia e-Niro 64kW

 

 

Workplace charging with EO Genius 22kW = 3 hours

 

Home charging with an Indra Smart Pro 7.4kW = 8 hours 40 minutes

 

Home charging with EO Mini Pro 7.2kW = 8 hours 55 minutes

 

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