Range Anxiety Gives Way to Charging Speed
Limp up to a public charging station in a thirsty Chevrolet Bolt and in 20 minutes you can add somewhere around 73 miles of range. However, do the same in a Ford Mustang Mach E — at the same charger — and you’ll probably make it twice as far. The Porsche Taycan driver is good for another 200 miles and change. Danke schoen.
Range anxiety is slowly giving way to charging speed as the critical metric among the swelling crowd of EV-curious consumers. On this front, the machines vary wildly. But like many things in EV-land, it’s a little wonky. Time needed to top up isn’t simply a specification as much as an equation that depends largely on two variables: the capacity of the charger and the capacity of the car itself to take a charge. The Bolt, for example, can take on 55 kW, which is the limiting factor at a 100 kW charger. If one thinks of the stream of electrons as a liquid, this would be the width of the hose and the size of the funnel.
The narrative to date has been about the hose: how fast can it pump? But the funnel, coming to the fore, is about to be a massive story. This week, Lucid announced the first deliveries of its Air sedan, which offers a peak charging rate of around 300 kW. At the proper plug, the sinuous sled will be able to add 300 miles of range in 20 minutes. In topping up, the Lucid zips right past Porsche, which planted its flag in this battleground early on, dialing up the max charge capacity on its Taycan models to 270 kW. Following in order of charging capacity is Tesla and then Volvo — neck and neck with Ford at 150 kW. Jaguar’s I-Pace clocks in at 104 kW, ahead of the Bolt and Nissan Leaf, down around 50 kW.
Meanwhile, charging networks, many showered in SPAC money, are standing up extra fast pumps in a bid to differentiate themselves in advance of the coming wave of electric vehicles. It’s a dynamic not unlike smartphones in the age of Instagram; the iPhone chips are only as slick as the cell towers. If both sides are eager to please it’s the kind of consumer-centric virtuous cycle that could further accelerate EV adoption — ultra-fast sounds good.