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Originally Posted by ScotsBrutesFan
Out of curiosity what is the real world (as opposed to brochure) timeframe for charging up something like a Nissan Leaf? Lets say from warning light on to fully charged?
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Depends on the charger rating. Varies from 13a 3pin household socket up to 50kWh M/Way chargers. At home I have a 32a 3 phase charger rated at 7kWh. This will charge the i3 33kWh battery in a few hours, but obviously a 100kWh Tesla would take a lot longer! The 50kWh DC-CCS charger will charge from around 30% to 100% in 30 minutes. Just time for a coffee and a comfort break.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ScotsBrutesFan
Does it get longer over time or does the range drop with more re-charges?
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I guess you're thinking of battery degradation. I think when they drop to 80% capacity they are regarded as needing replacement There's a lot of conflicting talk about how many charge cycles it will take before they lose that amount of capacity, and whether it is best to plug your car in every time you put in the garage, or every few days when depleted somewhat. Same arguments as for phones, I guess! As the batteries are usually guaranteed for quite a few years (8 for BMW), and in my case I will not be keeping the car anything like that long, I adopt the first approach. Obviously on a long journey it comes down to charging as many times as necessary to complete the trip, regardless of whether it is good for the batteries or not!
The idea of having quickly replaceable battery packs has been explored by at least one manufacturer. (Renault) Rather than charge at a public point, you would drive into a service bay where the battery pack was swapped from underneath while you waited. So you would always be swapping batteries, and presumably would have some sort of service contract to pay for the scheme. Not sure if the idea is still being developed?