How Long Does An Electric Car Charge At Home?

The length of time to charge an electric car at home is an important topic to discuss. Because, there are still many people who are still confused and don’t know about the duration of this charging.

As automotive lovers, like it or not, in the future we must be ready to welcome the era of electrification. Various automotive manufacturers are increasingly keen to release electric vehicles to create a cleaner environment from pollution.

Requirements for charging an electric car at home

One form of readiness to welcome electrification, Carmudian must also understand the requirements for charging electric cars at home. To be able to charge an electric vehicle at home, several requirements must be followed.

Charging electric vehicle batteries at home actually requires a large amount of electrical power. Based on answers from several automotive manufacturers, a minimum of 2,200 VA of home electric power is needed to be able to charge an electric car at home.

With a note when charging an electric car at home with 2,200 VA, the homeowner cannot turn on electronic devices with high power such as air conditioners or water pumps.

Therefore, homeowners are advised to increase the power above 2,200 VA if they do not want to turn off the power.

Suprayetno, Head of Services Planning and Strategy Department of PT Hyundai Motors Indonesia (HMID) said that Hyundai’s electric car is equipped with a portable charger module so that it can adjust to the amount of electric current at home.

“We provide the portable charger module so that it can adjust to the amount of electric current at home,” he said, quoted from various sources.

He said that if the house’s electric power is 2,200 VA or 3,000 VA, it can still be used to charge electric batteries.

Later the tool will regulate the incoming current to charge the battery.

For additional information, the Hyundai electric car charger has 3 modes, namely 1.7 kW; 2.2 kW; and 2.6 kW.

“If it gets smaller, it means that the charging time of the electric car will be longer,” he continued.

He further said that if you want to use the portable charger , it is recommended that your home’s electric power has a capacity of 4,400 VA to make it safer.

Electric Car Charge Time at Home

Then, how long does it take to be able to charge an electric car at home?

Each manufacturer has a different time estimate because the battery specifications carried by each car are also different. This means that electric car buyers must also be observant and understand the electrical power at home before deciding to ask for an electric car.

Hyundai Kona Electric

For example, electric cars made by Hyundai such as the Kona Electric have a battery capacity of 39.2 kWh.

If you charge this electric car using a portable charger, it will take about 2-4 hours to be able to recover the battery from 10% to 100%.

Even then it still depends on the electrical power in the house. The greater the electrical power of the house, of course, the faster the charging time will be.

Hyundai Ioniq 5

Then there is the Ioniq 5 which comes in 2 battery options with a capacity of 58 kWh and 72.5 kWh. If you want to charge the electric car at home, of course it will take a long time.

Reported on the official Hyundai website, it takes 19 hours to restore a 58 kWh battery to 100% using a portable charger for home electricity.

Meanwhile, to charge the 72.5 kWh battery using a portable charger it takes 31 hours. That is, this electric car will suck up quite a lot of electricity for charging at home.

It would be better to take advantage of the existing SPKLU or visit a Hyundai dealer to save time. Meanwhile, if you use fast charging with a current of 50 kW, it takes 45 minutes for a 58 kWh battery and 58 minutes for a 72.5 kWh battery.

Then if you use a current of 350 kW it takes 18 minutes for both batteries to be fully charged.

MG ZS EV

One of the electric cars that we have tried is the MG ZS EV. This electric car has not been officially launched yet, but we at least have an idea about the estimated battery charge.

When we use it from Jakarta to Surabaya, East Java, we charge the battery several times from 16% to 100%. Our filling is done at the SPKLU with a current of 50 kW in the rest area of ​​the Trans Java Toll Road.

To be able to make this 50.3 kWh battery fully charged, it takes at least 104 minutes or 1 hour 45 minutes using the slow charging method on KM207.

If you look at the electric power of the house, it could take longer to charge the battery.

We predict to be able to fully charge the battery at home will take about 2-5 hours with minimum household electricity. Of course this is just a prediction that could be right or wrong.

BMW i3S

Another electric car sold in Indonesia is the BMW i3S. The battery embedded in the German brand car has a capacity of 44.2 kWh.

To be able to fully charge this electric car battery, it takes up to 4 hours using the slow charging method in SPKLU. Meanwhile, when using fast charging it only takes 40 minutes.

If you want to charge the electric battery at home, at least it will take a little longer than filling in SPKLU’s slow charger.

Reasons to charge an electric car at home longer
So, what is the reason when charging an electric car at home takes longer than SPKLU?

Ir. Reza M. Eng, Chief Engineer of the Innovation Charging Station at the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT) said if there was a difference in the on-board charger .

According to him, no matter how big the electric power at home will still be limited by the on-board charger in the car. This is what makes battery charging take longer than SPKLU.

“No matter how much electricity is in the house, it will still be limited by the presence of an on-board charger , so it will take longer,” he said.

The electric current in the house will first enter the on-board charger and will be forwarded to the electric car battery. The electric current in the car also uses AC, adjusting the conditions at home.

In contrast to the SPKLU which uses DC current which will directly charge the electric car battery. Automatically, charging at the SPKLU will be much faster than at home, even though the electricity at home is quite large.

According to Reza, the on-board charger in the car generally uses 7 kW. If the on-board charger is bigger, then the charging will be faster according to him.

If you want to charge an electric car at home, you should try to keep the battery capacity not below 50%. This is so that the charging time is not too long.

While the recommended time to charge the electric battery is at night when You wants to rest. When the car wants to be used in the morning, the condition of the battery is expected to be full and the car is ready to be invited to measure the road again.

When you know how long it takes to charge your electric car at home, at least You will have preparations for when you actually have one.