Source: The truth about electric car range: how far an EV will really go on a full charge

While good range is useful, fast charging is probably more useful.

I compared a Tesla Model 3 and a Chevy Bolt EV, and planned a 516 mile trip using an online EV trip planner.

For this hypothetical trip, the planning software would make 3 stops of about 15 minutes each for the Tesla Model 3, with about 45 minutes total charge time for a route approaching 500 miles.

For the Chevy Bolt EV, there would be 4 stops with a cumulative charge time approaching 2 hours.

The difference? The Chevy Bolt’s maximum charge rate is 50 kW, and once the battery reaches 55% or so, the charging rate begins decreasing.

The Tesla, on the other hand, can be charged at 150 kW to 250 kW, depending on the charging station and the point on the charging curve. Like the Bolt, as the battery is charged up, the charging rate drops.

Because of the charging rate drops as the battery “fills up”, most planning software has you stop at say, 20% remaining capacity, and then charge up to, say, 65% capacity – so that the charge time will be minimum. Beyond that capacity, the charging rate drops off sharply. The software thus figures out an ideal charging strategy to minimize total charge time.

Consequently, the charging rate is perhaps even more important than range once the basic range (250-300 miles) is supported. New EVs coming to market over the next 2-3 years are all likely to support faster charging technology.

Coldstreams