How Long Does it Take to Charge an Electric Vehicle?

The time it takes to charge an EV depends on the type of charger you use and the size of the battery in your EV.

The slowest way to charge your EV is at home using a conventional three-pin plug. A three-pin plug delivers 3kW of power, so fully charging the battery can take a considerable amount of time. For instance, it would take around thirteen hours to recharge a 40kW battery in a Nissan Leaf from flat using this method. To speed this up, you can have a dedicated home charging point installed which delivers 7kW of power. Using 7kW speed up the charging time of a Nissan Leaf to around five hours.

Some supermarkets and shopping centres now have higher-power 22kW chargers. These can typically replenish a Nissan Leaf’s battery in around two hours, making them ideal for a boost while you do your shopping. It is also possible to use rapid chargers to boost battery life on many EVs. In the UK, rapid chargers typically provide 50kW of power. With this type of charger, it is possible to boost capacity from 0 to 80% in around 30 minutes. Most of these chargers can be found at motorway service stations, to give EV drivers a quick boost on longer journeys.

Less commonplace in the UK, are superchargers capable of providing 120kW of power. These can deliver up to 200 miles range in just half an hour, but not all EVs are compatible.