How fast can your electric vehicle charge?

Choosing an electric vehicle based on a long mileage range doesn’t always mean they will charge up quickly

With so many new electric vehicles coming to market, it is important to consider a few different aspects before you decide which vehicle is right you or your business fleet.

How does vehicle charging work?

The charging speed of your electric vehicle is determined by two main elements.

1. Output: The maximum charging output from the charging socket
2. Input: The maximum charging power that your vehicle can take

Output: Different charging outputs

There are some standard charging outputs that are commonly deployed in the UK.

Charging point type and power output per socket	Energy supply capacity needed per charge point
3.7kW AC	16 amps AC single phase
7kW AC	32 amps AC single phase
11kW AC	32 amps AC three phase
22kW AC	63 amps AC three phase
25kW DC	63 amps AC three phase
50kW DC	100 amp AC three phase
75kW DC	150 amp AC three phase
150kW DC	200 amp AC three phase

When you are looking to charging your vehicle using a public charging point, you will find an array of different outputs.

It is important to understand that it is your vehicles maximum charging input that will determine the speed in which your vehicle will charge, not the speed of the charging point alone.

For example, if your vehicle can take a maximum of 11kW AC and you plug your vehicle into a 22kW AC charging socket, the vehicle will only take it’s maximum 11kW which will then determine the charging speed.

Input: Your vehicles charging capacity

With being an electric charging point installer, we commonly get asked by customers to install a 22kW charging socket because they believe their vehicle will charge faster than it would using a 7kW charging socket. Unfortunately, this is not always the case.

We have analysed the maximum charging speeds for some of the most common electric vehicles on the market today.

You will be surprised to learn that very few vehicles can charge using a 22kW input.

See how quick each vehicle will charge for 60 minutes using some of the common chargers on the market

We have calculated how miles your vehicle will charge per hour using some of the common AC and DC charging outlets in the UK. We have also included the percentage of the vehicles battery that will be charging during this time:

Kia e-Niro 64 kWh

Car options	22kW AC	25kW DC	50 KW DC	75 kW DC
Kia e-Niro 64 kWh	22 miles 9%	75 miles 32%	150 miles 64%	220 miles 94%
Jaguar i-Pace	17 miles 7%	60 miles 26%	120 miles 52%	194 miles 84%
VW ID.3 Mid Range	34 miles 16%	90 miles 42%	150 miles 70%	260 miles Full
Renault Zoe ZE50 R135	65 miles 33%	85 miles 44%	140 miles 72%	140 miles 72%
Tesla Model 3	39 miles 20%	90 miles 46%	180 miles 92%	240 miles Full
Audi e-tron 55 Quattro	25 miles 15%	60 miles 35%	120 miles 70%	180 miles Full
BMW i3 120 Ah	34 miles 23%	85 miles 59%	160 miles Full	160 miles Full
Nissan Leaf	21 miles 16%	88 miles 66%	140 miles Full	140 miles Full

Below shows the maximum AC and DC charging capacity for each of the vehicles shown in our comparison table.

Power source	Maximum input
AC	7.2kW
DC	77kW

Jaguar i-Pace

Power source	Maximum input
AC	7.4kW
DC	100kW

VW ID.3 Mid Range

Power source	Maximum input
AC	11kW
DC	100kW

Renault Zoe ZE50 R135

Power source	Maximum input
AC	22kW
DC	46kW

Tesla Model 3

Power source	Maximum input
AC	11kW
DC	100kW

Audi e-tron 55 Quattro

Power source	Maximum input
AC	11kW
DC	155kW

BMW i3 120Ah

Power source	Maximum input
AC	11kW
DC	49kW

Nissan Leaf

Power source	Maximum input
AC	3.6kW
DC	46kW

Is your car not on our list?

All of our vehicle data is sourced on the Electric Vehicle Database which provides a thorough breakdown of range mileage and charging options for all full electric vehicles on the market and for those soon to be launched.

If you would like free help and advice on how to best charge your vehicle, please contact us on 020 8895 6511, enquires@ecc-uk.co.uk or simply complete the below enquiry form and we come back to you: