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The majority of Electric vehicles can be charged with several different chargers, each with a price and speed set before plugging in. The battery's size and the charger being used affect how long it takes to charge an EV. In simple terms, the larger the battery, the slower it will take to charge, and the slower the charger is, the slower it will be charged.
Depending on the charger type and the electricity cost in the area, charging an EV might be expensive. The cost of operating an electric vehicle (EV) and its carbon impact can be significantly decreased by charging the EV at home using a solar power system and a car charger. Other public charging stations are available, although they could cost more and have longer lines.
What are the ways and costs of charging an electric car?
As electric cars evolve, more and more manufacturers add electric models to their standard offerings. The size of batteries and the driving range for these models start to vary considerably. In other words, there is no standard hourly number that one can plug from the air to describe the time it takes to charge an electric car.
Currently, in Australia, several different manufacturers are offering electric cars. Each of these manufacturers and their brand claims to have an extra charging time, mainly due to the difference in their battery size and the type of charger being used.
Three main chargers are available to the public currently in Australia, each being faster than the previous one. Feel free to read our article on the different chargers available for your EV.
Some specific samples
Tesla advises that the charge time via a standard car charger can be as short as one hour to top up the battery and a day for a trickle charge when the battery is discharged significantly.
The Nissan Leaf – as it is a relatively light electric car with a smaller electric car battery to be charged, offers as advice a charge period in Australian conditions of between 4 and 8 hours – again depending on the electric battery discharge rate and state of charge when the car gets connected to the charging station.
The Leaf also offers a fast DC charging option, which can be as short as 30 minutes. Nevertheless, some experts claim that a slower charge, and therefore more time waiting for the electric car charging to complete, will increase battery life.
This is because electric car batteries are not getting hot in a slower-charge environment. In addition, current electric car battery technology does not like to see car batteries being pushed and overheated.
Popular electric cars in Australia
As you can see, the question is hard to answer in a general fashion. Still, we are giving you some charging times for several popular vehicles in Australia so that you get a basic understanding.
| Vehicle | Battery size | 3.6kW charger | 7.2kW charger | 22kW Fast charger | 43-50kW Rapid charger |
| Nissan Leaf | 40kWh | 11 hrs | 6 hrs | 6 hrs | 1 hr |
| Tesla Model S | 100kWh | 27 hrs | 14 hrs | 9 hrs | 2 hrs |
| Audi e-tron | 95kWh | 26 hrs | 13 hrs | 8.5 hrs | 2 hrs |
| BMW i3 | 43kWh | 12 hrs | 6 hrs | 4 hrs | 1 hr |
| Hyundai Kona | 64kWh | 17 hrs | 8 hrs | N/A | 1 hr |
| Mercedes EQC | 80kWh | 22 hrs | 11 hrs | 11 hrs | 1.5 hrs |
| Porsche Tycan | 93kWh | 25 hrs | 12.5 hrs | 4 hrs | N/A |
| Tesla Model 3 | 75kWh | 20 hrs | 10.5 hrs | 6.5 hrs | N/A |
| Tesla Model X | 100kWh | 27 hrs | 14 hrs | 9 hrs | 2 hrs |
Several other variables may impact charging time. These include:
- Hour of the day – If you are charging your electric car during peak hours, your EV will draw less power from the grid
- Ambient Temperature – Extreme cold/hot conditions can affect your battery’s ability to draw power and sustain it.
- Electric car battery level – If an EV is below 20% or above 80% charged, then charging times can be significantly slower or faster
- The number of electric cars charging – This applies primarily to public charging stations, as you can expect when there are a lot of EVs charging at a public station, the rate at which power can be delivered will decrease, and access waiting time could increase.
What is the cost of an electric car charge?
Many electric cars claim they need between 10 and 18kWh of electricity to travel 100km. So if this electricity comes from a renewable energy source, such as a high-quality residential solar system, the cost of running the electric car will be pretty low. The other benefit will be that the CO2 footprint of the electric car will be reduced if the vehicle is charged at home via a residential solar system and a charger.
On the other hand, if the car would simply be charged via the grid and it needed 16 kWh to travel 100km, and the local kWh cost per 1 kWh is 30 cents, then the electricity cost for a 100km electric car trip would be $4,80 (16 x $0.30). This would be only around a third of the cost of the fuel cost required to power a conventional petrol vehicle.
