Motor Insurance

Electric Car Charge Time Calculator

Find out how long it will take to charge an EV by size of battery—at home and via rapid charge points. Also compare charge times for the EVs currently available in the UK.

Electric car charge time calculator

The time to charge an electric car from 20% to 80% usually ranges from under 30 minutes up to 9 hours or more, where the charge time depends primarily on the size of the battery (which indicates the range) and the charging power. For example, a 36.8 kWh battery (like used in the Skoda CITIGOe iV, SEAT Mii Electric and VW eUp) would theoretically take over 3 hours to go from 20% to 80% on a 7.4 kW charging point at home, versus 29 minutes on a 50 kWh rapid charger.

time to charge an EV from 20% to 80% based on battery size and charging power

The table below can give you a rough idea for the time required to charge different battery sizes using different types of charging powers.

Time to charge EV battery from 20% to 80% (hh:mm)7.4 kW charging point11 kW charging point22 kW charging point50 kW charging point
17 kWh01:3101:0100:30n/a
36.8 kWh03:1902:1401:0700:29
40 kWh03:3602:2501:1200:32
50 kWh04:3003:0101:3000:40
75 kWh06:4504:3202:1601:00
100 kWh09:0006:0303:0101:19

How long does an electric car take to fully charge?

Many people don't fully charge their electric cars—but if you wanted to, how long would it theoretically take? Again, this mostly depends on the size of the battery and the charging power. For example, a 40 kWh battery would take less than an hour to charge from 0% to 100% on a 50 kW rapid charger, but take nearly 6 hours on a 7.4 kW charger. And a battery twice the size (80 kWh) would take around 2X as long.

Time to charge EV battery from 0% to 100% (hh:mm)7.4 kW charging point11 kW charging point22 kW charging point50 kW charging point
17 kWh battery02:3101:4200:5100:22
36.8 kWh battery05:3003:4201:5100:48
40 kWh battery battery05:5604:0002:0000:52
50 kWh battery07:2505:0002:3001:06
75 kWh battery11:0807:3003:4501:38
100 kWh battery14:5110:0005:0002:12

In practice, charge times can vary from the theoretical values above due to factors like limitations of on-board charging power. Below we assembled real estimated charge times for the different EVs in the UK market so you can compare cars.

Home Charge Times for UK Electric Cars

First, we have ranked electric cars by the speed with which they'll charge at home to give you 50 miles of range. We've used a 22 kW, 3-phase home charging system, which is the fastest home charging available (but not all cars are capable of this due to limitations of their on-board charger).

For example, the fastest home charging in the group are the Renault Zoe Z.E. 50 R110 and R135, which will deliver 50 miles of range after 46 minutes of home charging. In contrast, the Citroen C-Zero takes around 4.5 hours of home charging to give you 50 miles of range—this is because the C-Zero cannot charge faster than 3.7 kW at home due to the 3.7 kW on-board charger (the C-Zero can charge at 30 kW using a CHAdeMO 50 kW DC charging point away from home, however).

Cars in the table below are ranked by the time needed to achieve a 50-mile charge.

Charge Times (22 kW, 3-phase home charging)Charge 0% to 100% (hh:mm)Charge for 50 miles of range (hh:mm)
1Renault Zoe Z.E. 50 R11003:0000:46
2Renault Zoe Z.E. 50 R13503:0000:46
3Smart EQ fortwo coupe00:5500:46
4Smart EQ forfour00:5500:48
5Tesla Model S Long Range07:0001:05
6Tesla Model S Performance07:0001:07
7Tesla Model X Long Range07:0001:15
8Tesla Model X Performance07:0001:17
9Tesla Model 3 Long Range Dual Motor07:4501:22
10Tesla Model 3 Standard Range Plus05:1501:22
11Hyundai Kona Electric 64 kWh07:0001:24
12Tesla Model 3 Long Range Performance07:4501:25
13Mini Electric03:1501:27
14BMW i3 120Ah04:1501:28
15Vauxhall Corsa-e05:1501:29
16BMW i3s 120Ah04:1501:29
17Porsche Taycan 4S Plus09:0001:42
18Porsche Taycan 4S07:4501:42
19Porsche Taycan Turbo09:0001:51
20Porsche Taycan Turbo S09:0001:56
21Audi e-tron Sportback 55 quattro09:1501:58
22Hyundai IONIQ Electric06:1501:59
23Audi e-tron 50 quattro07:0002:00
24Audi e-tron 55 quattro09:1502:03
25Peugeot e-20807:3002:05
26Skoda CITIGOe iV05:1502:09
27SEAT Mii Electric05:1502:09
28VW eUp05:1502:09
29DS 3 Crossback E-Tense07:3002:12
30VW eGolf05:1502:14
31Kia e-Niro 64 kWh10:3002:15
32Peugeot e-2008 SUV07:3002:16
33Kia Soul EV 64 kWh10:3002:17
34Nissan Leaf 40 kWh06:3002:27
35Nissan Leaf e+ 62 kWh10:0002:28
36Mercedes EQC 400 4MATIC12:4502:54
37Jaguar I-Pace13:3002:58
38Citroen C-Zero04:4504:31

Rapid Charge Times for UK Electric Cars

Rapid charging points, which are publicly available all around the UK, will let you charge around 10X faster, give or take. For example, the Jaguar I-Pace take 44 minutes to go from 10% to 80% charge on a 50 kWh Rapid Charging point vs. 13.5 hours to go from 0% to 100% at home on a 22 kWh, 3-phase home charging point.

Below are metrics for charging times of UK electric cars using rapid charge points (50 kW). Using this type of charger, the Porsche Taycan is the fastest car to give you 50 miles worth of charge—and it would take just 6 minutes (it's also the most expensive EV). In contrast, the Citroen C-Zero would take nearly half an hour. Cars in the table below are ranked by the time needed to achieve a 50-mile charge.

Charge Times (50 kW rapid charging)Minutes to rapid charge 10%-80%Minutes of rapid charging for 50 miles
1Porsche Taycan 4S Plus00:2100:06
2Porsche Taycan Turbo00:2100:06
3Tesla Model 3 Long Range Dual Motor00:2500:06
4Porsche Taycan Turbo S00:2100:06
5Tesla Model 3 Long Range Performance00:2500:07
6Porsche Taycan 4S00:2100:07
7Audi e-tron Sportback 55 quattro00:2700:08
8Tesla Model S Long Range00:3800:08
9Audi e-tron 55 quattro00:2600:08
10Tesla Model S Performance00:3800:09
11Tesla Model X Long Range00:3800:10
12Tesla Model 3 Standard Range Plus00:2600:10
13Tesla Model X Performance00:3800:10
14Audi e-tron 50 quattro00:2600:11
15Peugeot e-20800:2800:11
16Vauxhall Corsa-e00:2800:11
17Mercedes EQC 400 4MATIC00:3500:11
18DS 3 Crossback E-Tense00:2800:12
19Peugeot e-2008 SUV00:2800:12
20Nissan Leaf e+ 62 kWh00:3500:12
21Hyundai Kona Electric 64 kWh00:4400:13
22Kia e-Niro 64 kWh00:4400:14
23Kia Soul EV 64 kWh00:4400:14
24Jaguar I-Pace00:4400:14
25BMW i3 120Ah00:3600:18
26Mini Electric00:2800:18
27BMW i3s 120Ah00:3600:18
28Renault Zoe Z.E. 50 R11000:5600:20
29Renault Zoe Z.E. 50 R13500:5600:21
30Hyundai IONIQ Electric00:4700:21
31Nissan Leaf 40 kWh00:4000:22
32VW eGolf00:3600:22
33Skoda CITIGOe iV00:4800:28
34SEAT Mii Electric00:4800:28
35VW eUp00:4800:28
36Citroen C-Zero00:2100:29

Sources

Erin Yurday

Erin Yurday is the Founder and Editor of NimbleFins. Prior to NimbleFins, she worked as an investment professional and as the finance expert in Stanford University's Graduate School of Business case writing team. Read more on LinkedIn.

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