How Long Does It Take To Charge a Tesla?

Tesla electric vehicles are innovative, efficient motor transportation solutions that are better for the environment and your wallet in more ways than one. But while there are lots of benefits to owning and driving a Tesla, there is one big limitation: you have to charge it up before taking it on the road.

This isn’t a major problem when driving across town or going to and from work. But when you take a road trip, you might need to know how long it takes to charge your Tesla so you can plan your charging breaks accordingly. After all, if it takes you too long to charge your Tesla, can you really drive it across the country to visit family members if you have to stop for several hours each time the battery runs dry?

Let’s break down Tesla charge times by charging station type. We’ll also explore how your Tesla’s battery might lose capacity and, thus, driving distance as it ages.

Charging With a Wall Connector

In general, it’s a good idea to plug your Tesla into a home charger, public charging station, or another type of charger until it reaches full charge. This way, you can consistently charge your vehicle while it’s not being used. This applies to the Tesla Model 3, Tesla Model X, and Tesla Model Y, all of which need consistent charging for optimal range.

Your first EV charging option is to use a Tesla Wall Connector. The Wall Connector provides the absolute fastest charging speed for a home or office environment. For most Tesla vehicles, you’ll gain 44 miles of driving range per hour charged. For long-range trips, you’ll need to use a Tesla charger for several hours.

Note that you have to have a home charging station installed by a Tesla Certified Electrician. These connectors are excellent for charging your vehicle consistently at home or at the office. If lots of people at your workplace also have Teslas, you may be able to get your work to fund the Wall Connector installation so everyone can charge their vehicles at the same time and at the same place.

Charging With a Mobile Connector

However, Tesla owners don’t have to charge their Tesla plugged into a specialized wall outlet or standard Tesla charging station — Musk provided another option. Instead, you can purchase a Tesla Mobile Connector EV charger. This Connector plugs into normal 3-prong and 120-volt outlets, effectively allowing you to charge your Tesla anywhere you can get electricity.

On the downside, this type of charging is not very fast. A standard 120 V outlet supplies you with a charging rate of between two and three miles of range per hour of charging. In other words, you’ll need to charge your Tesla overnight if you hope to get any reasonable driving range from a Mobile Connector.

Alternatively, you can purchase a Tesla adapter bundle. This allows you to charge your Tesla with other types of outlets, like 240-volt outlets. 240 V outlets are much more commonly used to power large appliances. If you charge your Tesla with such an outlet, you’ll get about 30 miles of range per charging hour.

Charging With a Tesla Supercharger

Then there’s the Tesla Supercharger. This is the fastest method of charging your Tesla whenever you’re away from home. It lets you charge up your Tesla and get up to 200 miles of range in just 15 minutes. These charging stations are explicitly designed to charge Tesla batteries quickly, and they’re owned and operated by Tesla itself.

At the time of this writing, there are approximately 30,000 superchargers worldwide. These are accessible 24/7 and are great for driving long distances with a minimum wait time in between battery charges. Most Tesla Superchargers are located on major routes and amenity stations, like rest stops.

Using the Destination Charging Network

The Destination Charging network is a charging station network you can find out resorts, restaurants, hotels, and other popular destinations. These host public Wall Connectors that patrons or customers can use to charge up their Tesla vehicles.

To date, there are 4500 Destination Charging sites available in both urban and rural locations. It’s a good idea to check for any Destination Charging stations along your route before driving your Tesla anywhere long-distance. In this way, you can plan your route and minimize the pitstops or detours you need to make to ensure your Tesla remains well charged.

However, keep in mind that these charging sites do take a few hours to charge up your Tesla vehicle from low to full. For maximum charging speed, Tesla Superchargers are the only real choice.

Charging With Third-Party Charging Stations

Lastly, there are several third-party charging stations you can take advantage of. Plugshare has a full list of all available third-party charging stations throughout the country and around the world. Charging stations are labeled differently to mark which adapters they work with.

For example, J1772 third-party charging stations work with SAE J1772 adapters. 120 V adapters work with Tesla Mobile Connectors.

As you can see, there are lots of ways to charge your Tesla vehicle, and it will take you anywhere between 15 minutes to 10-12 hours to charge your Tesla car from no energy to full battery. To maximize your charging flexibility, it’s a good idea to store at least a Mobile Connector in your Tesla’s trunk. It may also be a good idea to store a Tesla adapter bundle in the trunk so you can take advantage of 240 V outlets wherever you may find them.

Lost Battery Capacity Over Time

While your Tesla battery will hold lots of energy in the beginning, it’s just like other batteries in that its capacity decreases over time. For example, one study on several Tesla Model vehicles found that these cars lose a proximally 5% of their total battery capacities after driving for 50,000 miles.

After reaching 150,000 miles, most Tesla vehicles lose a total of 10% battery capacity. This affects your charging time because it caps off how much energy your Tesla’s battery can hold. In simpler terms, the more you drive your Tesla, the faster it will charge because there’s less battery capacity overall.

Don’t be fooled by this! If you love your Tesla and plan to drive it for years to come, you’ll need to replace the battery sooner or later. On the plus side, Tesla is continually researching new ways to streamline the charging process and add more Tesla Supercharger stations around the country.

Furthermore, as electric cars become more common, charging stations will also become more common and expected by the public. Even today, finding charging stations or incorporating charging solutions in the home is manageable for most electric car drivers. 

Summary

Overall, it can take you several hours to charge your Tesla electric vehicle, especially if it is out of power. If you need to get somewhere quick while your Tesla is charging, you can rely on Advantage Rent-a-Car for affordable, excellent rental vehicles to get you where you need to go.

Our diverse rental fleet has vehicles of all types and sizes, including sedans, exotic cars, and more. No matter what you need, we can help you get to work, get to your vacation, or get anywhere else until your Tesla is fully charged and ready to go. Contact us today for more information!

Sources:

Charging Your Tesla | Tesla
Tesla battery data shows path to over 500,000 miles on a single pack | Electrek
Destination Charging | Tesla