Charge an Electric car

How long does it take to charge an electric car? Filling up fuel has forever been the method. Once you insert the petrol pump into the valve, the wait depends on how much you want to fill but will rarely take over 5 mins. The process with electric cars is completely different. But how so?

How long does it take to charge an electric car and all the factors considered:

The time it takes to charge an electric vehicle (EV) depends on a few different factors:
1. The size of the battery
2. The speed (power) of the charging station
3. The charging cable that you are using
Taking these 3 factors into consideration, charging can last from 30 minutes to 12 hours.

Home charging station

A charging station at home usually will be 3.7 kW or 7.2 kW. This means a charging point with a 3.7 kW power rate will provide about 24 km per hour of charge. However, a 7.2 kW charging point will provide around 48 km an hour.
Furthermore, when it comes to home charging you can also charge your electric car through a portable charging cable. This will provide from 3 kW to 3.7 kW of power and charging time 8-24 hours for a full charge.

Public charging station

With public charging stations, you can get from 11 kW up to 22 kW of power. This is achieved through a 3-phase power supply. This charging option will provide approximately 65 km/h to 129 km/h of charge. Although this is the ideal top-up charging speed, not all EVs can accept this charging capacity. But even if your EV can’t accept 22 kW the charging station is still compatible to use, however, it will charge slower. Not higher than the car’s charging capacity.

DC Fast charge

Rapid DC chargers are using one of two different connectors that can be found in most fully-electric vehicles today. The Combined Charging System (CCS) and the direct current charging system that is known as CHAdeMO. This kind of charging station has a 50 kW power rate and can provide 80% of charge in as little as 30 minutes. Normally you will find these stations on motorways, service stations or big shopping malls.

EV Charging Power and Time

Charger	*AC/DC***	Rated Power	30kWh Battery	60kWh Battery	90kWh Battery
Schuko 16A	AC	3.7kW	8hrs	16hrs	24hrs
Schuko 32A	AC	7.2kW	4hrs	8hrs	12hrs
1-phase 16A	AC	3.6kW	8hrs	16hrs	24hrs
1-phase 32A	AC	7.2kW	4hrs	8hrs	12hrs
3-phase 16A	AC	11kW	3hrs	6hrs	9hrs
3-phase 32A	AC	22kW	1.5hrs	3hrs	4.5hrs
DC Fast charge	DC	50kW	40mins	80mins	120mins
Tesla Supercharger	DC	120kW	15mins	30mins	45mins

The chart above shows approximately the time an EV will charge depends on the size of the battery and the source of power. Tesla Superchargers have an output power of 120 kW.

Finally, one of the best and most efficient ways to run an EV is a full charge at home in the night and a top-up throughout the day.