How long does it take to charge an electric car?

How quickly a car charges depends on your car’s charging capability, as well as how powerful the charger is that you’ve plugged into and how big the car’s battery is. Not only that, but charging rates vary depending on how full the car’s battery already is. As a general rule, an EV will charge fairly quickly up until it has an 80% charge, but the last 80-100% of the charge will arrive much more slowly. 

The fastest charging car on sale is the Porsche Taycan, which is the only car that can currently take advantage of the rare 350kW super-rapid chargers. Most electric cars can charge at up to 100kW, or 150kW charging is becoming more common. 

If your car is capable of charging at up to 100kW via its CCS socket, it will charge at 100kW whether you’ve plugged into a charging station of 150kW or 350kW since the car’s charging potential is the limiting factor. However, if you plug into a 50kW charging station, it will only charge at 50kW since the charging station itself becomes the limiting factor. 

Here’s a rough guide for how quickly a charger can top up your car’s battery: 

Charger speed *                           Miles of range added per hour

• Three pin domestic socket                               2 
• 3.6kW                                                                  14
• 7kW                                                                     28
• 22kW                                                                   90
• 50kW                                                                   180
• 100kW                                                                 250
• 150kW                                                                 400
• 350kW                                                                 700

* This is a best-case scenario charging rate. Charging rates when your battery is more than 80% full will drop to less than half the stated speeds. 

How does battery size affect charge times? 

How quickly you can get a full battery depends, of course, on the size of battery in question. Where a charger is described as delivering 50kW rates, it means that it can potentially charge a 50kWh battery – such as that in the Peugeot e-208 and Vauxhall Corsa-e – in one hour. 

However, because the last 20% of the battery charge always arrives very slowly, you won’t ever get a 50kWh battery charged from 0-100% in one hour from a 50kW charger. The last 20% of your battery charge could well take 30 minutes or more on its own, so most people don’t bother charging beyond 80% when using rapid chargers for a quick stop on the motorway. 

Here are some realistic charge times for a 50kWh car with a maximum potential charging speed of 100kW, and a 90kWh with a maximum potential charging rate of 150kW. 

                                                                 50kWh                  90kWh

• Three pin domestic socket*                25 hrs                     41 hrs
• 3.6kW*                                                    16 hrs                     27 hrs
• 7kW*                                                         9 hrs                      13 hrs
• 22kW**                                            1 hr 40mins                   3 hrs
• 50kW**                                                    45 mins                 1hr 30mins
• 100kW**                                                  20 mins                  40 mins
• 150kW**                                                  20 mins                  25 mins
• 350kW**                                                  20 mins                  25 mins

*Charging times shown for a 0-100% charge. 

** Charging times shown for a 10-80% charge.