Let me start by saying you can absolutely make an EV work without at home charging! Public charging infrastructure is improving but you want to pay attention to charger ratings. Many DC chargers being installed are 50 kW chargers. Charging from say 20% to 80% on the Mach-E could easily take an hour and a half at a 50 kW charger. That is not ideal for a quick pit stop on your way home from work.
I primarily use Electrify America 150 kW chargers. In some areas, Electrify America has installed 350 kW chargers but, in my experience, the charge time ends up being about the same as the 150 kW chargers, I get to why that is a little bit later. At a 150 kW charger, the same charge from 20% to 80% is typically around 35 minutes. The charge times noted are per the extended range 91.0 kWh battery in my Mustang Mach-E GT.
| Charger Rating | ‘Good’ Real Charging Speeds |
| Level 2 | 6-8 kW |
| DC Fast Charger – 50 kW | 35-40 kW |
| DC Fast Charger – 150 kW | 80-100 kW |
| DC Fast Charger – 350 kW | 90-120 kW |
What adds a dimension out of your control is what available capacity the electric grid has at that time of charging. A charger may be rated for 150 kW but only deliver 40 kW. The available charge is limited due to load on the electrical system. This is not something you can filter by in any of the EV charging apps.
Let me put it this way, if I pull up to a charging station and I see that many chargers are in use, yes, I am excited that more people have EVs but I am also a bit annoyed because I know my charging speed will be reduced significantly. The electric grid has limited capacity and load may be being pulled by other users on the system or, in the case of say 4 other EVs charging, now 5 of us must share the available load and we will all experience reduced charging speeds.
The ‘Charging Details’ image shows my real charging speeds while being the only car at 2 125 kW chargers. You can see my peak charging rate was just over half the charger rating.
The unpredictability is something I do not think many want to talk about because it probably sounds very complicated and, quite frankly, like a pain in the butt. The truth is it absolutely can be a pain. You must change your mentality and be flexible with your time.
