Electric vehicles are the new rage at the moment, with the government offering incentives for people to switch to electric rather than the traditionally fueled petrol and diesel cars. Some people, however, are worried about the length of time it’s going to take their car to charge and the distance that the car will cover on a full charge. In this article, we’re going to be taking a look at how long an electric car is going to take to charge, and some of the things that will impact this time. Keep reading down below if you would like to find out more.

EV charger types

Level 1 charger

A level 1 charger typically provides the electric engine with around 4 miles of charge every hour. Depending on the amount of charge that your battery can hold, this means that it can take around 24 hours for your battery to fully charge, sometimes longer. As such, this is simply too slow for the average driver who completes medium to long distances on a regular basis.

Level 2 charger

A level 2 charger is faster than the level one, providing the car with around 25 miles of range per hour, making it pretty quick. As such, you will be able to plug your vehicle in and have a full charge completed in around three of four hours. This means that you can go to work, and when you come out you can have a full charge.

DC fast charger

A DC fast charger is even better than regular charging stations available. These take around 15-45 minutes to completely charge up the battery. It can deliver around 100 miles of range per hour, but you cannot install these at your home. They are designed for commercial use only.

Factors that affect an EV charging time

There are a number of factors that will impact the charging time of an EV, with the first being the charging device power output which is what we just looked at above. For your home, the best option will be a level 2 charger if you use your car on a regular basis. As well as this, the storage capacity of the battery will play a part in how long it takes to charge the vehicle. The more room it has, the longer it’s going to take to fill up, but the longer it will last.

If your battery is empty, then of course it’s going to take longer to completely replenish, rather than a battery that was already half full. Make sure you check your battery before you put it on charge just so you know how long it should be until a full charge.

The weather can also have an impact on how fast the charge occurs as the temperature of the battery is important. The colder the battery, the longer it’s going to take to get the charge that you need.

If you own an electric vehicle, or you are going to be purchasing one in the near future, then you need to contact an electrician to install your EV charger as soon as possible!