Hub · Charging Speed & Cost
“How fast does it charge?” is really three questions: how many amps the circuit delivers, how many kilowatts your car can accept, and how many miles of range that buys per hour plugged in. This hub does that translation — and the second translation that matters just as much: what each of those miles costs at your utility’s rate.
What this hub covers
- Amps → kilowatts → miles per hour: the full conversion chain, worked for the circuits real homes have — 40A, 50A, and 60A.
- Your car is the ceiling: onboard charger limits (7.7 kW, 9.6 kW, 11.5 kW) and why a bigger circuit sometimes buys you nothing.
- Cost per mile, honestly: home vs. public Level 2 vs. DC fast charging vs. gasoline, modeled on EIA rates — and the efficiency figure (kWh per mile) that moves the answer most.
- Time-of-use plans: when overnight rates cut your cost per mile in half, and when the plan’s peak price makes it a trap.
The overnight test: if your car is home and plugged in for 8+ hours, even a 40A circuit adds roughly 290 miles overnight — more than almost anyone drives in a day. Speed stops mattering long before the biggest circuit does. The Electrical Setup hub covers what each circuit takes to install.
Charger-by-charger speed claims are checked against spec sheets in the Buying Guides; the boxes themselves live in Home Chargers.