How long does it take to charge an electric car? Charging times by charger, battery and country

Charging an electric car takes about 7 to 13 hours on a 7.4 kW home charger and 4.5 to 9 hours on an 11 kW charger for a typical 50 to 100 kWh battery from nearly empty, a day or more on a household socket, and 20 to 40 minutes from 10 to 80 % on a rapid charger of 150 kW or more. In daily use you rarely start from empty: an 11 kW charger adds about 55 km of range per hour, so one night covers far more than a typical commute.

This guide gives you the formula, a table of charging times by battery and power, the kilometres added per hour and per night, the limits set by your home supply in each European country and by your car, and what this means for a company car driver. Voltaback measures every home charging session from the car and reimburses it at the real cost, whatever the charger.

How to calculate an EV's charging time

The formula fits on one line:

Charging time (hours) = energy to add (kWh) / (power actually accepted (kW) x efficiency)

Two units are often confused. The kilowatt-hour (kWh) is an amount of energy, like the content of a fuel tank. The kilowatt (kW) is a power, like the flow rate at the pump. Charging time is simply the first divided by the second.

Step 1: the energy to add

Multiply the battery's usable capacity (not the gross figure in the brochure) by the share you want to add. From 20 % to 80 % on a 77 kWh battery: 77 x 0.6 = about 46 kWh.

Step 2: the power actually accepted

The power is the lowest of four limits:

• the socket or charger (2.3 kW for a household socket, 3.7 kW for a reinforced or CEE socket, 7.4 kW for a single-phase wallbox, 11 or 22 kW for a three-phase wallbox);
• the home supply (single-phase homes cannot go above about 7.4 kW, and less in some countries);
• the contracted power of the electricity contract, which must also feed the rest of the house;
• the car's onboard charger for AC charging (often 11 kW, sometimes 7.4 kW, rarely 22 kW).

Step 3: efficiency, then the calculation

On AC charging, part of the energy drawn from the grid is lost as heat in the onboard charger, the cable and the battery. The Swiss motoring club TCS measured an average of 11 % losses on 26 electric cars charging at 11 kW, with an overall efficiency between 84 and 93 % depending on the model. Losses are higher on a household socket, because the car's electronics run longer for each kWh. Source: TCS, charging losses.

With the example above on a 7.4 kW wallbox:

46 kWh / (7.4 kW x 0.9) = about 6.9 hours from 20 to 80 %.

A handy shortcut: from 10 % to 100 % on AC, the losses and the 10 % already in the battery roughly cancel out, so charging time is close to battery size divided by charging power.

EV charging time table by power and battery

AC charging: home, work and car parks

Times from about 10 % to 100 %, with about 10 % losses (more at 2.3 kW). A car only charges at 22 kW if its onboard charger accepts it; most accept 11 kW.

Kilometres per hour assume 18 kWh per 100 km in the battery, a typical figure for a compact SUV used as a company car. A small city car goes further on each kWh, a large SUV less far.

DC rapid charging: motorways and charging hubs

Rapid charging is quoted from 10 to 80 %, because charging slows sharply beyond that point. Times depend more on the car's charging curve than on the charger's maximum power: a car that peaks at 100 kW does not charge faster on a 300 kW charger.

Under the EU regulation on alternative fuels infrastructure (AFIR), the core motorway network must offer a charging pool roughly every 60 km in each direction, with at least 400 kW in total and one point of 150 kW or more from the end of 2025, rising to 600 kW by the end of 2027. Rapid chargers of 150 kW and more are therefore becoming the norm on European motorways. Source: EUR-Lex, Regulation (EU) 2023/1804.

Home supplies in Europe: what limits your charging speed

The same car charges at very different speeds at home depending on the country, because home supplies differ. This is the table most charging time guides leave out.

Sources: § 19 NAV, Electrosuisse, finding the right connection, Repsol Portugal, charging times.

Two practical conclusions follow. In Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Luxembourg, 11 kW three-phase is the home standard, and a 22 kW wallbox rarely adds anything: most cars accept only 11 kW on AC, and the car is parked all night anyway. In Italy, Spain and Portugal, the binding limit is often the contracted power, not the charger: a driver on a 3 kW contract in Italy charges at about 2.3 kW unless the contract is raised or a load manager is installed.

The car can also be the bottleneck: some models that accept 11 kW on three-phase are limited to 7.4 kW, or even 3.7 kW, on single-phase. Check the AC specifications of your exact trim, especially if you live in a single-phase country.

Charging time at home: socket, reinforced socket or wallbox?

Household socket: for occasional or low-mileage use

A standard household socket (Schuko on the continent, 3-pin in the UK and Ireland) with the manufacturer's portable cable charges at about 2.3 kW, about 11 km of range per hour. It is slow, and long daily sessions on old wiring are not recommended. For a driver covering 40 to 60 km a day and plugging in every night, it can be enough.

Reinforced or CEE socket: faster without a wallbox

A dedicated reinforced socket or a blue CEE socket with a suitable 16 A cable delivers about 3.7 kW, which adds roughly 145 km in an 8-hour night. On a three-phase supply, a red CEE socket with a mobile charger reaches 11 kW. Our guide to charging from a normal plug or reinforced socket explains when a socket is enough.

Wallbox at 7.4, 11 or 22 kW

A wallbox is the most comfortable solution: it charges a typical battery in one night from nearly empty, supports scheduling and, on most models, load management with the rest of the house. The right power depends on your supply (see the table above) more than on the car. For prices by country, see the cost of charging an electric car at home.

How many kilometres does one night of charging add?

Range added in 8 hours and 10 hours, with the same assumptions as above (18 kWh per 100 km in the battery, about 10 % losses).

In winter, consumption rises with heating and a cold battery, so take 15 to 30 % off these figures.

Charging in the off-peak window

Night and off-peak tariffs make home charging much cheaper, but their windows are often shorter than a full night. Typical windows: the Spanish valley period from midnight to 8 am (plus weekends), Italian F3 hours at night, Belgian night rates on bi-hourly meters, dynamic hourly prices in the Netherlands and the Nordics, and UK EV tariffs of about 5 to 7 hours. On a 7.4 kW wallbox, a 6-hour window still adds about 220 km. Our article on charging during off-peak hours explains how to programme the car or charger.

Does one night cover a company car's daily mileage?

Almost always. The table below converts annual mileage into the daily need, assuming 220 working days, all charging at home and 20 kWh per 100 km drawn from the wall, losses included.

A household socket covers the average company car driver; a reinforced socket covers most of them; only drivers above about 35,000 km a year need a wallbox for daily use, and even then 7.4 kW is enough.

Charging times of popular company cars

The models below are among the most common company car choices across Europe. Their AC charging limit decides the home charging speed; their DC curve decides the motorway stop. Check the exact specifications of your trim and battery with the manufacturer.

Other popular company cars such as the Skoda Enyaq, BMW i4 and Mercedes EQA also accept 11 kW on AC. On the same home wallbox, all of these models charge at about the same speed: the differences show up on rapid chargers, not at home. Sources: ADAC, VW ID.4, ADAC, Skoda Enyaq.

Why charging slows after 80 % and in cold weather

• Above 80 %, the battery management system reduces power to protect the cells. On a rapid charger, the last 20 % can take as long as the 10 to 80 % before it. That is why rapid charging stops at 80 % in most journey planners.
• In cold weather, a cold battery accepts less power, especially on rapid chargers. Using the car's navigation to a rapid charger usually triggers battery preconditioning, which warms the battery on the way and restores charging speed.
• At home, these effects matter much less: the car has all night. On a household socket in winter, though, part of the power is used to warm the battery, so the first half hour adds little.

Many manufacturers recommend setting the daily charge limit at 80 % and charging to 100 % only before long trips. With an LFP battery, some recommend charging to 100 % regularly: check your car's manual.

Charging losses: the kWh you pay for but do not drive

Charging time and charging cost are linked by losses. Every kWh lost as heat is paid for at the meter but never reaches the wheels.

• On an 11 kW wallbox, losses average about 11 %, according to the TCS study above.
• On a household socket, the German motoring club ADAC measured roughly 12 to 24 %, because the car's systems stay awake for many more hours per kWh delivered.
• On DC rapid chargers, the conversion happens in the charger, so the losses are part of the price per kWh you pay at the station.

For a company car covering 15,000 km a year, the TCS puts the cost of losses at around CHF 80 a year on average, and up to CHF 137 for the least efficient models. This is one reason reimbursement should be based on the energy drawn from the home meter, not only on the energy that reached the battery.

Public AC chargers: why 22 kW posts often charge at 11 kW

Public AC posts in town centres and car parks are usually rated 11 or 22 kW. The car still charges at the power of its own onboard charger: 11 kW for most recent models, 7.4 kW for many single-phase cars, and sometimes only 3.7 kW for older or entry-level models. The cable matters too: a Type 2 cable rated 16 A limits the session to 11 kW even on a 22 kW post.

In practice, one hour on a public AC post adds about 55 km to a car that accepts 11 kW, and about 37 km to one limited to 7.4 kW. That makes public AC useful for a top-up during a meeting or overnight near a flat without private parking, but not as a substitute for a rapid charger on a trip.

Plug-in hybrids: short sessions, slow chargers

Plug-in hybrids have small batteries, typically 10 to 25 kWh, and their onboard chargers are often limited to 3.7 or 7.4 kW. Many accept no DC rapid charging at all.

For a plug-in hybrid, a household socket in good condition is enough: one night always fills the battery. The real question for fleets is whether drivers plug in at all, because a plug-in hybrid driven on fuel costs more than a diesel.

Planning a long trip: two short stops beat one long one

On a motorway trip, the fastest strategy uses the part of the charging curve where the car accepts the most power, usually between 10 and 60 to 80 %.

Take a 600 km trip in a car using about 20 kWh per 100 km on the motorway, with a 77 kWh usable battery, leaving home at 100 %:

• Leg 1: 300 km uses about 60 kWh, arriving at about 20 %.
• Stop 1: 20 to 70 % in about 20 minutes on a 150 kW charger.
• Leg 2: 200 km, arriving at about 18 %.
• Stop 2: 18 to 50 % in about 10 to 12 minutes.
• Leg 3: the last 100 km, arriving with about 25 % in reserve.

Total charging time: about 30 to 35 minutes. A single stop from 20 to 100 % would take longer, because the last 20 % is slow. Let the car's navigation plan the stops: it preconditions the battery on the way and picks chargers where the car will charge fastest.

Five ways to charge faster

1. Match the charger to your supply and car: an 11 kW wallbox on a three-phase supply, 7.4 kW on single-phase, nothing more.
2. Raise the contracted power if it is the bottleneck, or add a load manager that gives the car whatever the house is not using.
3. Use the right cable: a 16 A cable for a reinforced socket, a 32 A Type 2 cable for 22 kW public posts if your car accepts it.
4. Precondition before rapid charging, by navigating to the charger in the car.
5. Stop at 80 % on rapid chargers and charge to 100 % at home, where time does not matter.

What a night of charging costs

Time is one side of the question, price the other. For the same 26 kWh (about 145 km), the cost ranges widely across Europe and across charging types:

Home charging is therefore two to three times cheaper than rapid charging, which is why company car policies encourage drivers to charge at home overnight. Our guide to charging an electric car at home covers the setup and the right tariff.

Charging at work: time is rarely the problem

At the workplace, a car is parked for about 8 hours. On an 11 kW point, that is enough to add up to about 440 km, far more than a day's driving. The constraint is not speed but the number of points versus the number of cars, and the rotation between drivers. Workplace points are best reserved for drivers who cannot charge at home, pool cars and visitors, with load management sharing the site's grid connection.

Smart charging: slower on paper, cheaper in practice

Smart charging means the car or wallbox decides when and how fast to charge: it waits for the cheap hours, follows a dynamic price, uses solar surplus or slows down when the oven and heat pump are on. The EU buildings directive now requires new charge points in buildings to be capable of smart charging.

Smart charging can stretch a session over the night instead of finishing it at midnight, but that costs no useful time: what matters is the state of charge at departure. Set a departure time and a target level in the car or app, and let the system choose the hours. For a company car, the only condition is that each session is still measured, so it can be reimbursed at the price actually paid.

Company car drivers: getting your night charging reimbursed

For a company EV, charging at home overnight is both the most convenient and the cheapest option. The condition is that the driver is paid back correctly for the electricity used, at the real price of their own contract or at the national rate where one applies, such as the CREG rate in Belgium or the Strompreispauschale in Germany.

You do not need a connected charger for that. With Voltaback, each session is measured from the car and linked to the right vehicle, whether the driver uses a household socket, a reinforced socket or a wallbox of any brand, and reimbursed at the right price. Voltaback relies on the home's MID-certified meter, not on a standalone cable meter. The measurement has been audited by an independent third party, with a 1.22 % relative error, and the company never receives the driver's location. See how home charging reimbursement works.

Take action

For almost every company car driver, one night at home is enough, even on a modest setup. The real question is not how fast the car charges, but whether every home session is measured and reimbursed fairly. If you manage an EV fleet across Europe and want that done on any charger, with no hardware to install, talk to our team.