Automakers tend to talk about charging speeds in terms of kilowatts and battery percentages, but this buries the information that most buyers really want to know: How long do I need to charge to make it to my destination?conducts a test to measure how many miles of 70-mph highway range an EV gains after 15, 30, 45, and 60 minutes of fast-charging, starting with the battery at 5 percent.
When you only focus on the time to charge from 10 to 80 percent, a vehicle with a small battery often appears to refuel quicker than a vehicle with a big battery. The Lucid Air's battery holds 45 percent more energy than the Kia EV6's, for example, so it shouldn't be a surprise that it needs 32 minutes to charge from 5 to 80 percent compared to the EV6's 20 minutes.
Charging beyond 80 percent at a fast charger is often a poor use of your time and, if the fee is based on time rather than energy, not cost effective. To get the most out of your time and money and to preserve your EV's battery, arrive at the DC fast-charging station with your battery as close to empty as possible. Shortly after charging begins, you should get full power output from the station .
Level 2 chargers, which operate at 240 volts like an electric stove or clothes dryer, can replenish an average commute's worth of battery power in just a couple hours. Depending on the efficiency of your EV or plug-in hybrid, a 9.6-kilowatt charger can add between 15 miles and 30 miles of range per hour of charging. Plugging in even a significantly depleted battery to a Level 2 charger overnight should bring it back to full.
If you only drive around 30 miles a day, it's possible to rely on Level 1 charging while making the occasional visit to a more powerful public charger. For most EV owners, though, the convenience of a more powerful Level 2 charger is worthYou can often find public chargers using the navigation system in your EV or plug-in hybrid, but third-party websites and apps like