How Far Can You Travel In An Electric Car
How far you can travel in an electric vehicle has become a sticking point, with many potential buyers citing range anxiety as the biggest hurdle to adoption.
Just like a gasoline-powered car, the estimated electric range varies from car to car. Consumers can get anywhere from 84 miles in a Fiat 500e to well into the 300-mile range in an EV like a Tesla Model 3 Long Range or Porsche Taycan.
Considering the average Americans commute is 16 miles, any of the current EVs offer more than enough range. Charging stations are also becoming more common along highways making long-distance road trips achievable.
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How Long Does It Take To Charge An Electric Vehicle
There is no simple answer, but knowing the variables will help you better estimate the time it takes for an EV fill-up.
Figuring precisely how long it takes to charge an electric car is akin to asking, “how long does it take to cross the country? It depends whether youre in a plane or on foot. Recharge time is dependent on a host of variables, many of them nuancedeven the length of the charging cable can influence itthat make providing a precise answer impossible. But we can give you some reliable guidelines.
Ignoring some of the lesser variables, the charging time of a vehicle comes down to two primary factors: power source and the vehicle’s charger capacity. Ambient conditions play a smaller part, with both cold- and hot-weather extremes adding to charge time.
What Impacts Electric Car Charging Time
1. Battery size
2. State of charge
Similar to the fuel gauge in a fuel car, state of charge refers to how much energy your electric car can use between full and empty. Like smartphones and laptops, EVs use lithium-ion batteries which degrade faster when drained to zero and then fully charged. To counter this, car manufacturers put systems in place to prevent batteries draining below or charging above certain limitstypically above 80 percent and below 20 percent. This means charging from 80 to 100 percent could take as long or longer than the initial charge.
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How Long Does It Take To Charge An Electric Car At Home
As stated above in the chart, it can take anywhere from 30 minutes to a full day to charge your electric vehicle. However, these are the five major factors that will affect how long itll take to charge a Tesla car or other EV:
- The size of your EVs battery: The bigger the battery capacity, the longer it takes to charge.
- The status of your battery: Charging from empty will take longer.
- The maximum charging rate of your EV: You wont be able to charge any faster than whatever your cars maximum charging rate iseven if you use a charging point with a higher rate.
- The maximum charging rate of your charging point: Like charging rate of the car itself, your charging point also has a maximum rate. Its not recommended to charge at a point with a lower rate than that of your vehicle.
- The weather: It takes longer to charge your EV when its colder outside.
- When it comes to how long it takes to charge an electric car, youll always want to make sure you take into consideration these factorsotherwise you might be wasting time every time you try to charge.
Other Factors That Impact Electric Car Charging Time:
- Your batterys size: Level 1 outlets charge car batteries at the slowest rate. If your vehicle offers more battery capacity , youll need more time to charge your car battery fully.
- Is your battery empty or full?: Drivers rarely charge their vehicles from an empty battery. They usually top up their batteries instead to lengthen the time they can drive on a single charge, which generally saves drivers significant charging time.
- Your vehicles maximum charging rate: How much of a charge can your vehicle accept at once? Your vehicles maximum charge rate is static, so you wont save time by charging your battery at a more powerful charging station.
- The power of your charging station: Your charging time also depends on the maximum charging rate of the charging station you are using. Even if your car can charge at a higher rate, it will only charge at your charging stations maximum power rate, which can adversely affect charging time.
- The weather in your area: Lower temperatures can affect vehicle efficiency and lengthen charging times, especially when using rapid chargers. Conversely, Hot weather can also affect your electric cars thermal management systems, affecting its efficiency. Hot conditions can also test an electric vehicles internal resistance, rising as battery charges increase.
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How Long Does It Take To Charge An Electric Car At A Charging Station
Electric cars are becoming more and more popular. But a lot of people are still unsure about how long it takes to charge them. In this blog post, were going to take a look at how long it takes to charge an electric car at a charging station. Well also discuss some of the pros and cons of using an electric car. So, if youre considering making the switch to electric, read on!
How Much Does It Cost To Charge An Ev At Home
You might be wondering if its worth installing a home charging station. One study found that charging your EV at a public charging station could cost twice as much as charging it at home. Thats based on electricity costs of 16.58 cents per kilowatt-hour, or 4.42 cents per mile of charge.
Over time, that difference can add up. But its worth checking your local electricity rates and doing the math yourself since they can vary from state to state.
Youll get the most bang for your buck if your electricity provider offers time-of-use rates, such as free nights or weekends. By leaving your car charging overnight during off-peak hours, youll pay less than you would if you charged it during the day.
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How To Work Out How Long It Takes To Charge An Electric Car
There are many different sizes from vehicle to vehicle e.g. the newer Tesla Model 3 has a 75kW battery installed, the Mini Electric has a 32.6kWh battery. To keep things simple, well demonstrate using a 70kWh battery.
We are going to concentrate on home domestic chargers. Some manufacturers offer 3kWh home chargers. The zappi comes in both 7kWh and 22kWh versions. Most Irish houses have a single phase supply which means the maximum charge rate will be 7kWh. Therefore most homeowners will have 7kWh chargers installed.
Now its just some simple maths. 7 x 10 = 70kWh, it really is that simple!
Now you know it takes around 10 hours to charge a 70kWh battery, you know it will take over 10 hours to charge any battery higher than 70kWh and less than 10hours to charge any battery lower than 70kWh.
Want the excruciating details and minutes?
70kWh is easy to work out! Lets assume your battery is 54kWh which is a figure weve concluded as a rough average across 40 of the best selling EVs.
The maths is the same! Find the nearest whole number, 7 x 7 = 49kW of charge. At this point, we know this particular vehicle would take over 7hrs, though less than 8hrs, to achieve a full 100% charge.
Not accurate enough? If you would like to know the extended minutes. Take the remaining 5kW required to hit , divide by 7kWh and times by 60 minutes which equals 42 minutes.
There we have it, to charge a 54kW battery it would take around 7hrs 42 minutes!
How Much Do Public Electric Car Charging Stations Cost
Just like a gas station offers different fuel grades, electric car charging stations have varied prices on their fuel, too. The charger level you want and the demand for charging ports will affect how much you pay. According to Investopedia, you can expect to pay between an average of $10-$30 dollars each time you need to charge it.
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How Many Kwh Does It Take To Charge An Electric Car
Lets start specifically: Youre a Tesla Model 3 owner and you need to know how many kwh it takes to charge your Tesla. This EV has a 40-kWh battery and can travel about 165 miles on a full charge. However, this estimate could change based on weather conditions and where youre driving . If youre not a Tesla owner and want to know the average of all other EVs, it takes about 30 kWh to travel 100 miles. This is the same amount of electricity you might use each day to run your household appliances, power your A/C, keep the lights on, and charge your computers. Wondering what else a kilowatt-hour powers? Energy Ogre breaks it all down for you.
Finding The Fastest Charging Stations For My Ev
If youd like to know the total time to charge an electric vehicle from empty, use our EVSE Selector Tool, which will not only give our top recommendations for a charging station, it will also give the total time to charge from empty based on acceptance rate and battery size.
You can also figure this out manually. Electric vehicle charging times depend on a couple of factors:
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Electric Car Charge Times Over 264 Listed
The table below lists how long it takes over 264 electric cars to charge. The table is arranged from fastest charging time to longest.
The motor / battery details are also listed. This is because battery capacity has a significant impact on charge times smaller capacity batteries will generally reach full charge quicker than larger capacity batteries.
Tip: if youre looking for the charge time of a specific electric car, simply hit Ctrl + F or Cmd + F on your keyboard and search for the model. If youre on your cell phone, check your browser for a Find in page feature.
Charging An Ev To Suit Your Needs
All the different factors contributing to EV charge-time bring up the question: What do you need out of your electric car? As previously mentioned, most people who already own an EV do not mind the time it takes to charge in fact, many even enjoy the new fueling process.
Think about it: Instead of running to the gas station after work, competing with traffic and messing with the dirty pump handles, you can simply plug in your vehicle at home and set it to charge when power costs are lowest. Additionally, you can set your vehicle to charge to what your daily range needs are, meaning you can save money by only getting what you need. Or, if youre running behind, hook your vehicle up at work and let it charge while youre busy, leaving it ready to roll home when youre done.
The final hesitation some drivers have: road trips. Again, if drivers think they will use their EV for longer trips, it makes sense to purchase accordingly. With EV ranges increasing rapidly, and their onboard chargers developing to suit the bigger batteries, charging up on a road trip will take a little more time than it does for a gas-powered vehicle. Even better: You dont have to sit around and wait at the pump instead relax, use the restroom and grab a snack while the charging station does the work. And the best part is that charging an EV remains far cheaper than filling a gas tank!
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Introduction To Charging Electric Cars
Charging an electric car can be done at home or at any public charging stations. Fully charging a car can be done in just 30 minutes, or it may take as long as half a day. How big your battery is, or how fast your charging point is may change the time required.
Factors that affect charging speed
There are 5 main factors that affect electric vehicle charging speed:
1. Battery Size: Bigger battery capacity will take longer to charge.
2. Battery Status : Charging from empty will take longer than charging from half-full.
3. Maximum charging rate of vehicle: Charging speed is limited by the vehicles maximum charging rate, so you wont charge any faster even on a charging point with a higher charging rate.
4. Maximum charging rate of chargepoint: Charging speed is also limited by the maximum charging rate of your chargepoint. Charging at a charging point with a charging rate lower than that of your vehicle is not recommended.
5. Weather: It tends to take longer to charge at a lower temperature, particularly when using a rapid charger. Also, your car is less efficient at a lower temperature so you cannot add much to the travel distance per time charging.
Types Of Electric Car Chargers
There are three levels of charging equipment available to use for home and public electric car charging. Its important to note it takes the same amount of time for an EV battery to charge from 80 percent to 100 percent as it does to charge from 10 percent to 80 percent. This is because fully charging to 100 percent can be harder on the battery, and packing in that last 10-20 percent of battery capacity always takes longer. However, there may be instances where you want to charge your battery to 100 percent, such as just before a long road trip.
Level 1:
The most basic way to charge a plug-in or electric vehicle is with home charging equipment. All plug-in hybrid vehicles and battery electric vehicles come with a 110-volt or Level 1, home charging kit that enables your vehicle to plug into a standard wall outlet with an adapter. This method doesnt require modifying your houses electrical system in any way, but it only provides three to five miles of range per hour of charging. This can be adequate for plug-ins, but if you want to maximize your vehicles all-electric range, its not very efficient. To put this charging rate into perspective, it would take 20-40 hours to charge a Tesla Model S, depending on its battery capacity and range. A Hyundai IONIQ 5 would take up to 43 hours.
Level 2:
A Chevrolet Bolt with 259 miles of range will take about 9.5 hours to charge from zero to 100 percent full on a level 2 home charging system.
Level 3: DC Fast Charging
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Level 1 Charging Speed
Level 1 charging refers to plugging the cable that came with your electric car into a standard household outlet. Charging via a domestic socket is the slowest way to charge an electric car. They deliver up to 2.3 kW . This equates to 4 to 5 miles of range per hour. So, for example, if youre looking to fully charge a 50 kW Peugeot e-208 with a Level 1 charger, it would take 24 hours and 30 minutes. This method is not only slow, but under certain circumstances, it can be dangerous. Learn about why we dont recommend this charging method.
What Happens If An Electric Car Runs Out Of Battery While On The Road
If you happen to run out of battery while driving an EV, you cant just walk to the nearest gas station and come back with enough gas to get you to a charging station. Youll most likely have to call a tow truck to take you to the nearest charging location.
The good news is that running out of battery wont damage the vehicle, and you should get plenty of warning before you actually run out of charge.
Most EVs will show you an estimate of your remaining charge on the dashboard. While this can be wrong especially if youre driving uphill or in other unusual conditions it should be accurate enough to help you plan your next charging session.
You might be tempted to call AAA to bring you a mobile charger, but most roadside assistance plans dont offer this service.
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How Long Does It Take To Charge An Electric Car
Electric cars are becoming increasingly popular with drivers who desire their eco-friendliness and cutting-edge design. These days, theyre turning to them because they want to save money as they steer clear of gas stations.
They are also becoming cheaper to own and easier to maintain, thanks to a proliferation of charging stations at gas stations, office buildings, shopping centers, and other public places. Also, the federal government offers from $2,500 to $7,500 in tax incentives for buying an electric car. Only GM and Tesla no longer qualify for the federal incentives.
However, charging these cutting-edge automobiles may hinder their popularity due to a lack of charging stations in certain areas and slow charging times in many cases. Even extreme weather conditions like below-zero temperatures can wreak havoc on drivers ability to charge their vehicles.
What can drivers do to maximize how much time they can drive on a single charge? Lets start with some factors that can affect how much time they spend charging their EVs in the first place.
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