22kW EV Charger TimeHow Long Does It Take to Charge an Electric Car?

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How long does it take to charge an electric car? The issue of charging speed is one of the major impediments for drivers to switch from combustion engines to electric ones. Rapid charging stations can reduce charging times to 30 minutes, but they are still relatively expensive and low in supply.

In this post, we’ll explain how long it takes to fully charge an EV and the relevant factors to calculate it yourself. Furthermore, we show how to determine miles of range per hour and elaborate on the role of top up charging.

Overview

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Charging Time

The higher a charger’s output, the quicker an EV will be charged. However, not all EVs benefit from faster charging devices equally. To illustrate this, we have put together charging times for the most popular EVs with different charging point speeds.

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Top Up Charging

Top up charging is a method to plug your EV into a charger whenever the vehicle is parked. By using parking time to simultaneously charge the battery, you spend less time charging your EV in total.

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    Calculating Charging Time

    To calculate the time it takes to charge an EV, you need to know to basic factors: EV battery capacity and charger output. For AC charging, however, the car’s onboard charger capacity can be a constraint and has to be taken into account as well.

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    Miles of Range per Hour

    In short, miles of range per hour is the number of miles an EV can drive if charged for one hour. It is a measure to assess the performance of EV charging units and estimating how far drivers can travel after charging for a certain amount of time.

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    How Long Does It Take an Electric Car to Charge?

    Generally, the higher the output of the charger, the faster an EV will charge. However, the exact charging speed is also determined by the specific car model and it’s compatibility with different charging rates.

    The table below shows charging times with different setups for the most popular electric cars.

    How Long It Takes to Fully Charge an Electric Car

    VehicleAC ChargingDC Fast Charging
    CarBattery SizeMaximum Charging Rate AC/DC
    3.6kW
    7kW
    22kW
    60kW
    120kW
    Nissan Leaf
    40kWh
    6.6kW/50kW

    11h

    6h6h1h1h
    Audi e-Tron95kWh
    11kW/120kW

    19h

    10h7h1.5h45min
    Hyundai Kona64kWh7.4kW/80kW

    18h

    10h10h1h45min
    Porsche Taycan80kWh11kW/225kW

    22h

    12h7h1.5h30min
    Tesla Model S75kWh16.5kW/200kW

    21h

    11h4.5h75min40min

    Looking at it more closely, it shows that some cars take longer to charge than others, even though their battery has a smaller size. For example, this is the case with the Hyundai Kona at 22kW compared to the Porsche Taycan at the same rate.

    The reason why the Hyundai Kona takes longer to charge at 22kW than the Porsche Taycan is simple. The Hyundai has a lower maximum AC charging rate, causing longer charging times. DC fast chargers eliminate part of this problem by feeding DC power directly into the battery, However, the same constraints apply here as well, as all cars also have a maximum DC charging rate.

    While output ratings of up to 22kW are possible for EV home chargers, anything beyond 7kW requires a three phase power supply. Most private homes do not have these by default and upgrading to a three phase supply can be very expensive. So, in most cases, we recommend to resort to public chargers for three phase charging, for example on a motorway service station.

    Fastest Home EV Charger

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    Polaris DC 20 Wallbox

    Polaris DC20 Wall-mount 20kW DC Charging Station

    Being part of the DC fast chargers line, the Polaris DC20 offers a fast home charger solution for homeowners without the high cost inherent to commercial rapid chargers.

    Compared to a slower 7kW charging point, the Polaris Wallbox reduces charging time by up to 6.5 hours.

    In addition to an elegant design, an LCD touch screen display and several next-generation features make the Polaris Wallbox a state-of-the-art fast home charger.

    • Best Wallbox Charger for Fast Charging at Home
    • 20kW DC Charger
    • Full LCD Touch Screen
    • Voice Command
    • Smart Charger
    • Smart Home App Control (iPhone/iPad/Android)
    • CCS2 Smart Plugs
    calculate ev charging time

    How to Calculate EV Charging Time

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    EV Charging Time Calculation

    • EV Battery size determines how many kWh are needed for a full charge.
    • Charger Output is how many kWh are fed into the car’s battery in one hour.
    • Maximum Charging Rate of an EV is the highest rate it can be charged with.

    In general, only two factors determine the time it takes to charge an EV. Battery size and charger output. If you know these two factors, then it is very easy to calculate charging time. Then simply divide EV battery size by charger output.

    charging time simple equation
    In real life, however, the calculation is not always that simple. Keep in mind that the maximum charging rate puts a limit on how much input the EV can take from a charger.

    If charger output exceeds the EV’s maximum charge rate, the car will charge only at it’s maximum rate.

    maximum charging rate equation

    What Is Top Up Charging?

    It is natural for most EV drivers to charge their car anytime they park, be it at home oor outside using public charging points. This is called top up charging. In other words, you use the time spent parking to simultaneously charge your car. This way, you won’t have to stop your car as often because the battery needs a recharge.

    info orangeINFO: EV owners don’t worry much about how long it takes to charge from flat to full. Because of the way EV charging works, the more important factor is how many miles of range they get from charging for a certain amount of time.

    What Is Meant By Miles of Range Per Hour?

    As an electric car driver, it is useful to know how many miles of range you receive from charging to know whether you can travel to your next location. The best metric to determine this is called miles of range per hour. It tells you how many miles a given EV model can drive after being charged for one hour.

    The number of miles you can drive after one hour of charging depends on how efficient the car is. Obviously, smaller, light-weighted cars have a slight advantage as they need less kWh to cover a certain distance. The table below shows the number of miles per hour of charging for the most popular EV models.

    VehicleMiles (km) of Range Per Hour of Charging
    CarkWh consumption per 100 miles (km)
    3.6kW
    7kW
    22kW
    60kW
    120kW
    Nissan Leaf
    36.64kWh/100mi
    22.9kWh/100km

    15mi/h
    24km/h

    26mi/h
    42km/h
    26mi/h
    42km/h
    110mi/h
    176km/h
    110mi/h
    176km/h
    Audi e-Tron38.72kWh/100mi
    24.2kWh/100km

    9mi/h
    14.5km/h

    17mi/h
    27.2km/h
    27mi/h
    43.5km/h
    147mi/h
    235km/h
    293mi/h
    469km/h
    Hyundai Kona20.96Wh/100mi
    13.1kWh/100km

    15mi/h
    24km/h

    26mi/h
    42km/h
    26mi/h
    42km/h
    238mi/h
    381km/h
    310mi/h
    495km/h
    Porsche Taycan40.64kWh/100mi
    25.4kWh/100km

    11mi/h
    18km/h

    20mi/h
    32km/h
    32mi/h
    51.5km/h
    102mi/h
    163.5km/h
    215mi/h
    344km/h
    Tesla Model S23.84kWh/100mi
    14.9kWh/100km

    13mi/h
    21km/h

    24mi/h
    39km/h
    57mi/h
    91km/h
    209mi/h
    334.5km/h
    418mi/h
    669km/h

    Keep in mind that these are just benchmark values that can differ from real life. An EV’s efficiency is affected by environmental conditions such as temperature. This means that electric vehicles are more efficient and have a somewhat longer range per hour in summer than they do in winter.