It used to take a long time to charge an EV but like any technology each iteration gets better and faster. If you are charging from a normal house plug (240v) it will take around 8 hours to top up your vehicle – charge while you sleep. If you are charging from a 50kW fast charger it will take anywhere from 40 minutes to a bit over an hour to get an 80% fill depending on the size of battery and how much you need to top up (the reason 80% fill is used as a cut off is that the last 20% takes somewhat longer as the charging rate slows during the last 20%).

With the new chargers appearing globally and also here in Australia the time to charge for a 120kW charger is about 30 minutes, or a 250kW about 20 minutes or for the ultrafast chargers of 350kW it takes just 8 to 15 minutes to fill up – just enough time to grab a coffee.  This technology is moving faster than what some of the vehicles (particularly older EVs) are capable of handling but the newer models are equipped to charge rapidly. So the drawback of slow charging is rapidly disappearing. In Australia Chargefox has already installed the first of the ultrafast 350kW chargers in Victoria.

The convenience of wireless charging will also soon be possible where you simply park the car and charging starts without the need for cables in a similar manner to wireless charging for mobile phones – see this link for information on Wireless Charging.