"How long will it take to charge" is one of the first questions every new EV owner asks, and the honest answer is: it depends on your charger, your car's onboard charger capacity, and how depleted the battery is when you plug in.
Get an instant price for this"How long will it take to charge" is one of the first questions every new EV owner asks, and the honest answer is: it depends on your charger, your car's onboard charger capacity, and how depleted the battery is when you plug in. Here's the maths made simple.
The three things that determine charging time
Charger power (kW) — a standard household socket delivers around 2.2kW, a dedicated home wallbox typically delivers 7kW single-phase (some homes with three-phase supply can go higher).
Battery size (kWh) — bigger batteries take proportionally longer to fill at the same charging power.
Onboard charger limit — some EVs can only accept AC power up to a certain rate regardless of what the wallbox can supply; check your specific model's onboard AC charger rating, commonly 7kW or 11kW.
Charging time by scenario
| Vehicle (approx usable battery) | Household socket (2.2kW) | 7kW home wallbox |
|---|---|---|
| Nissan Leaf (36 kWh usable) | ~16 hours (empty to full) | ~5 hours |
| MG4 Essence (51 kWh usable) | ~23 hours | ~7.5 hours |
| Hyundai Kona Electric (64 kWh usable) | ~29 hours | ~9.5 hours |
| Tesla Model 3 RWD (57 kWh usable) | ~26 hours | ~8.5 hours |
| Hyundai IONIQ 5 Extended (77 kWh usable) | ~35 hours | ~11 hours |
These are empty-to-full figures for illustration. In practice almost nobody charges from 0%, so real overnight charging is usually a partial top-up.
Why partial charging is what actually matters
Most owners plug in with 30–50% remaining and want to wake up to 80–100%. In that realistic scenario:
- A Leaf topping up from 40% to 90% on a 7kW wallbox takes roughly 2.5–3 hours
- A Kona Electric topping up from 30% to 90% on a 7kW wallbox takes roughly 5.5–6 hours
- An IONIQ 5 topping up from 25% to 80% on a 7kW wallbox takes roughly 6–7 hours
All comfortably fit within a typical 8-10 hour overnight window, which is why home charging feels effortless in practice even though the "empty to full" numbers above look long on paper.
Does charging speed slow down near 100%?
Yes, and this applies to AC home charging too, though it's much more pronounced with DC fast charging. Most EVs taper charging speed above roughly 80% to protect battery longevity, meaning the last 20% takes proportionally longer than the first 80%. This is one of the reasons manufacturers and workshops alike recommend charging to 80% for daily use and reserving 100% for trips — you get most of the range in less time.
What slows charging down further
- Cold weather — a cold battery accepts charge more slowly until it warms up, sometimes extending home charging time by 20–30% on frosty mornings
- Charging from very low state of charge — the battery management system may ramp up charging speed gradually rather than starting at full rate immediately
- Using a shared circuit — if the charger shares a circuit with other high-draw appliances, some smart chargers throttle back automatically
Three-phase power: is it worth it for home charging?
For a single EV household, no — most EVs' onboard AC chargers cap out around 7-11kW regardless of what the wallbox or supply can deliver, so paying for a three-phase upgrade (often $3,000-plus) rarely delivers a proportional speed benefit unless you're running two EVs or a higher-capacity setup.
Bottom line
For the vast majority of NZ EV owners with a 7kW home wallbox, an overnight charge comfortably covers a full day's driving, typically completing in well under the available charging window. A standard household socket works but is really only suitable for lower-mileage drivers or as a backup option, given how much longer it takes to deliver the same charge.
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