Does my vehicle have enough range for its application in the commercial fleet? And do I have sufficient charging options on the road? Range anxiety is still widespread and keeps some fleet managers from electrifying their own fleet. The public charging network is the focus of discussion here and the expansion of the public charging infrastructure is extremely important for the general acceptance of electric mobility. However, it should not be forgotten that currently only 20 per cent of all charging is done on the road. The rest is evenly split, with 40 per cent of charging taking place at home and 40 per cent at work.
But how long does it actually take to charge an electric car with 50 kWh? The answer: between a long 22 hours and a speedy 10 minutes - it depends on the respective charging option.
There are three main options for charging electric and hybrid vehicles. At the lower end of the charging speed scale is the household socket. With the usual charging power of 2.3 kW, it takes up to 22 hours to fully charge our example battery with 50 kWh. If the car is parked at home or on company premises for many hours anyway and is used almost exclusively for short trips, this option is sufficient.
There are two different systems for on-the-road charging: charging stations with alternating current and charging stations with direct current. Many public charging points supply alternating current. Electric cars, however, can only process direct current - so an onboard charger converts the energy. However, most current converters reach their limits at 22 kW. Then the charging time would be a little more than 2 hours.
It is direct current charging stations that enable very fast charging. That's why we rely exclusively on ultra-fast charging when setting up our own charging infrastructure at our bp filling stations. Provided you have the appropriate battery technology, your fleet vehicle can be supplied with new energy within 10 minutes.
In general electrification is at the heart of bp’s convenience and mobility strategy to provide our customers with an integrated service and product offer. In the UK, you already have access to more than 8,000 charging points with bp Fuel & Charge. Across Europe, there are already more than 193,600 charging points that you can use with our mobility card.