[jcfrei]

With the newer 350kW charging stations you can charge up to 80% in about 15 minutes (ie. for a Model S battery). So not much more than filling up with gas. Granted cars which support this will be available at the earliest next year.

[tzs]

I think you are underestimating just how much energy is in a gallon of gas.

In terms of miles per hour of charging or adding gas, gas is still massively faster. Tesla says the new charging stations are 1000 miles per hour.

A gasoline car that gets 25 miles/gallon, at a gas station with pumps that go at 10 gallons per minutes, "charges" at 15000 miles per hour. (10 gallons per minute is the maximum allowed in the US due to EPA rules).

A lot of real world pumps don't achieve that maximum, but usually achieve at least at least 1/3 of that, which would be 5000 miles per hour, still 5 times faster than the upcoming faster Tesla charging option.

One advantage for the EV, though, is that it might be safer to step away from the vehicle while charging? When filling up at a gas station I want to stay with the car because a gas spill can be dangerous. That means any trips to the station's convenience store or bathroom cannot be overlapped with fueling.

I'm guessing that there isn't much that can go dangerously wrong if you step away from a charging EV, and so you can overlap your convenience store and bathroom visits with the charging time. That might be enough to make the total stop time comparable or less for the EV in many cases, even though the actual charging is 5 to 15 times slower on the EV.

[theluketaylor]

The fill ups with gas where speed matters to me is around town driving. EVs eliminate this type of stop since you simply charge in the evening or while parked at work. For daily errands and commuting there should never be a need to stop for charge. It didn't take my parents long at all to get in the habit of plugging their volt in before going inside.

On long drives there is a diminishing return on the speed of charging since stops generally include a lot more than simply filling up the tank. There are trips to the bathroom, snack refills, and often a little walking around to stretch out. If you have more then a couple passengers these stops can drag out (or even need to occur more frequently than empty tank). I've been thinking about this a lot and decided for me the diminish point is 250-300 miles in 15 minutes. Anything beyond that is really just gravy and it's likely the stop is longer than the charge time required.

I travel around 1000 miles round trip to visit family a few times a year and the only really viable option is by car since it's so rural. If I can make progress 250-300 miles at a time with a 15-20 minute break I'm pretty comfortable with that. With a 35 mpg ICE car I can stop a little less if it's just me, but when I make this journey with passengers (or part of a convoy) stopping every 2-3 hours for 15-20 minutes is the best I can expect.

[c0nfused]

Tesla owner, the car does exactly what you expect in the second half of your comment. The idea is to plug in and then just leave the car do some stuff, then get a notification on your phone the charge is finishing soon. You throw out your half eaten taco Bell and go pick up the car.

[new_realist]

The 1000 miles per hour figure is burst, not sustained. As the battery fills up the charge rate will slow.

There is a fire risk to charging, but there's nothing you can do about it, so it's better to exit your car.

[davidgould]

There is very little evidence for “fire risk to charging”. Anecdotally most people at Superchargers sit in their car. The charge rate does slow as the battery gets full. But it’s rarely necessary to charge fully. The optimal plan is to arrive at the Supercharger almost empty and charge only enough to get to the next one. That way most charging is at higher rates.

[tom_]

Is 15 minutes really "not much more than filling up with gas"?

You can fill my car up to 100% from empty in 100 seconds. The entire process, including payment, takes less than 2.5 minutes, and usually (I rarely let it run to empty) more like 2 minutes, from switching off the engine at the pump to switching it back on and driving off.

My car's fuel tank is 60 litres (15.8 US gallons). 35 miles per Imperial gallon in miles per 60 litres = ~460 miles. 6060/90460 = 18,400 miles'-worth of charge per hour (in principle).

You can get more fuel-efficient cars than mine, and you can also get cars with larger fuel tanks.

[davidgould]

This is only meaningful if you happen to live at a gas station. My electric car takes me only ten seconds to charge as I plug it in when I get home on my way inside.

[tom_]

The claim is that 15 minutes at a supercharger to fill your Tesla to 80% charge capacity is "not much more" than the time it takes to fill up with petrol.

[imtringued]

I have a car with 30 litres and I don't think I ever filled up that quick in my entire life and I honestly couldn't care less because simply driving to the gas station and back takes me 5 minutes.

[tom_]

The fuel pump doesn't mind whether you care or not - it delivers fuel at a fixed rate. I bet the actual process of filling your car takes less than 2 minutes, too.

Anyway, the point of my comparison is not so much that you should care, or not, because that's up to you - but rather, to be vaguely data-driven about comparing Tesla charge times with how long it takes to fill a petrol or diesel car. Because we're often breezily assured that the two times are comparable, and it takes 15 minutes to charge a Tesla, and that this is "near enough" (or similar handwavy term) to how long it takes to fill up a petrol car, but people never provide hard figures for the petrol case. So here's me, doing my bit.