Why the 0% charging time is useless in an EV?

The most useless number when it comes to electric cars is undoubtedly the zero percent charging time. Why? Because no one is waiting for their battery to be completely empty to recharge their vehicle. Moreover, how often does someone return home with a completely drained battery?

Electric Vehicle drivers drive throughout the day, come home with a certain amount of energy in their car, and still plug it in to charge overnight to have a full battery ready by the next morning.

In summary, almost everyone charges at home. When long-distance trips are made, charging time is important. But very few drivers will hit the highway with a 0% fast charge. Therefore, the 0-80% charging time in just, say, 40 minutes is not very helpful for car manufacturers.

For example, Hyundai claims that the Kona Electric charges 80% of the battery in 75 minutes at 50 kW or 54 minutes at 100 kW. Considering all the other variables (charger capacity, temperature…) these numbers are not useful.

Therefore, the numbers that present a zero percent charging time are not useful and can be misleading. A much better option for car manufacturers would be to present charging time differently. How many miles you can drive with 30 minutes of charging would be much more useful information for electric vehicle drivers.

A good example is Chevrolet, which presents charging time differently – “90 miles in 30 minutes.”

Source: Insideev