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Charging an electric vehicle

​How do you charge an electric vehicle?

This will depend on the type of EV you use. As discussed, Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEV) are charged using a combination of regenerative braking and the combustion engine to produce power, which is stored within the battery.
Pure electric vehicles and Plug-In Hybrid Vehicles (PHEV) are plugged into an external charging socket to generate power.
Fast and rapid charging packs are available with most manufacturers and allow users to fully charge their vehicle in under an hour. They are also available for home installation, or you can plug your vehicle into a standard three-pin socket for convenience, but this will increase your expected charge time.
You can use tools such as the WeConnect App, to locate your nearest charging point throughout your journey!
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How long does it take to charge an ev?

Just as EVs have different size battery packs, EV chargers charge at different speeds. Think of this in the same way you would the rate at which petrol flows from the petrol pump (EVs can’t charge as quickly as this, but the principle is the same).

A three-pin domestic plug would charge at 2.3 kiloWatts (kW), whereas an ultra-rapid public chargepoint like the kind you might find at a motorway services could deliver a charge at 150kW.

Determining how long an EV would take to charge up is therefore a simple question of dividing the battery size by the speed of the charge.

For example, a 100kWh battery would take 40 minutes to go from full to empty using a 150kWh charger. If the charger you found only delivered electricity at 50kW, it would take two hours; and if all you had was a three-pin socket it would take a little under 43.5 hours (100 divided by 2.3 = 43.48).

If the electric car in question had a smaller battery, let’s say a 50kWh pack, it would take 20 minutes to go from full to empty on a 150kW charger, 60 minutes on a 50kW charger, and 21.74 hours using a three-pin socket.