Anywhere from well under an hour to more than a day, set mainly by the charger’s power. A 60kWh battery takes about 26 hours on a 2.3kW three-pin plug,[1] about 8 hours on a 7.4kW home wallbox, and around 1.2 hours of arithmetic time at a 50kW rapid charger, before charging losses and the slowdown near full. Divide battery size by charger power and you have a working first estimate.
- Three-pin plug
- 2.3kWRoughly 8 miles of range per hour
- 60kWh on a 7.4kW wallbox
- ~8 hours0-100%, before charging losses
- 60kWh on a three-pin plug
- ~26 hours0-100%, before charging losses
- Rapid chargers
- 25-99kWZapmap classification
- Ultra-rapid chargers
- 100kW+Zapmap classification
How do you work out charging time?
Divide battery size by charger power. A 60kWh battery on a 7.4kW wallbox is 60 divided by 7.4, about 8 hours from empty to full. That one line does most of the work in every estimate below.
Two caveats before the numbers. These are best-case division sums: AC charging loses some energy as heat, so real sessions run a little longer than the arithmetic suggests. And a charger only delivers its headline power while the car accepts it, which matters most on a nearly full battery. Where we convert energy into miles we assume 3.5 miles per kWh, a mid-range figure you should adjust for your own car.
The power figure comes from the charger tier, and the tiers are the subject of our full guide, EV charging speeds explained.
How long does a three-pin plug take?
A standard UK socket delivers about 2.3kW, which adds roughly 8 miles of range per hour.[1] On a 60kWh battery, empty to full takes about 26 hours. That is fine as a backup at a holiday cottage and hopeless as a daily plan.
If you do use one, plug straight into a sound socket. Extension leads are discouraged for EV charging because of the heat and fire risk.[1]
How long does a 7.4kW home wallbox take?
7.4kW is the practical ceiling for UK home charging, because it is the most a single-phase supply delivers and UK homes are almost all single-phase. A 60kWh battery takes about 8 hours from empty to full.
Empty to full is also rare. Most drivers plug in with plenty left and top up. At 3.5 miles per kWh, adding 40 miles of range needs about 11.4kWh, roughly an hour and a half at 7.4kW.
That is why overnight tariffs suit wallbox owners. Intelligent Octopus Go, for example, runs a six-hour cheap window from 23:30 to 05:30 with smart charging from 8p/kWh.[3] A full 8-hour charge overruns the window, but the smart scheduling can extend cheap charging beyond it, and a normal night’s top-up fits with hours to spare. The tariff sums are in our guide to the cheapest way to charge at home.
Can you charge at 22kW at home?
Almost certainly not. A 22kW charger needs a three-phase supply, and UK homes are almost all single-phase, which caps home charging at 7.4kW. Zapmap classes 7-22kW as “fast” charging,[2] and 22kW AC units do turn up at workplaces and public car parks. Even there the car’s on-board charger sets the AC ceiling, and many cars accept less than the full 22kW. Where the full rate is available, 60 divided by 22 gives about 2.7 hours.
How fast are rapid and ultra-rapid chargers?
Zapmap’s classification puts rapid chargers at 25-99kW and ultra-rapid at 100kW and above.[2] These are the DC units you use on long journeys. At a flat 50kW, a 60kWh battery works out at 1.2 hours; at 100kW, 36 minutes.
DC sessions do not run flat, though. Charging slows sharply near full, so the last stretch to 100% takes disproportionately long. That is why the working convention at a rapid charger is a 10% to 80% session rather than a fill to the brim: you take the fast part and leave.
How long to add 200 miles?
The table assumes a 60kWh battery, full rated power throughout, and 3.5 miles per kWh, so 200 miles is about 57kWh (200 divided by 3.5). All figures are before charging losses and taper.
| Power | Typical setting | 60kWh, 0-100% | Add 200 miles (~57kWh) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2.3kW | Three-pin plug | ~26 h | ~25 h |
| 7.4kW | Home wallbox | ~8 h | ~7.7 h |
| 22kW | Fast AC, three-phase | ~2.7 h | ~2.6 h |
| 50kW | Rapid DC | ~1.2 h | ~1.1 h |
| 100kW | Ultra-rapid DC | ~36 min | ~34 min |
Hours to charge a 60kWh battery, 0-100%
The bottom line
Match the charger to the gap in your day, not the other way round. A 7.4kW wallbox turns any normal night into a full battery, and a 90-minute plug-in covers a typical day’s driving. The three-pin plug is a backup. Rapids are for journeys, run to 80% and no further. If the numbers here surprise you, the tier-by-tier detail in EV charging speeds explained shows where your car sits.