Charging stations are rarely places where you want to spend your time. Get in and out as quick as possible with these fast-charging EVs.
The conversation around electric vehicles often centers on range, but road trippers and EV shoppers who can’t charge at home should place just as much importance on how quickly an EV recharges at a DC fast charger. Automakers showcase this in different—and often confusing—ways. Hyundai, for example, says the Ioniq 6 can replenish its battery from 10 to 80 percent in 18 minutes. That’s not very helpful, though, to drivers who measure distance in miles rather than battery percentage. We think a more useful EV metric is how many miles of range an EV can add after 15, 30, 45, and 60 minutes of charging. These numbers give you a better idea of how long you’ll have to wait before hitting the road again.
Over the course of 2023, we executed fast-charging tests on 37 different electric vehicles. Some were less than spectacular—a Nissan Leaf added just 30 miles in 15 minutes—but the fastest-charging EVs can add more than 150 miles of range in the time it takes to use the bathroom and grab a snack. Our fast-charging test, which goes hand in hand with our MotorTrend Road-Trip Range test, starts with the vehicle’s battery preconditioned and at a 5 percent charge. We plug into a DC fast charger that can deliver as much power as the vehicle can accept and start a stopwatch that runs until the battery reaches 100 percent. The range added at every 15-minute interval is based on the vehicle’s efficiency while traveling at a constant 70 mph. With that, here are the fastest-charging EVs MotorTrend tested in 2023.
10. 2023 BMW I7 XDrive60
Range added after 15 minutes of charging: 120 miles
Range added after 30 minutes of charging: 203 miles
Range added after 45 minutes of charging: 258 miles
Range added after 60 minutes of charging: 289 miles
Time for 5-80% charge: 37 minutes
Time for 5-100% charge: 65 minutes
Peak charging power: 196 kW
The all-electric version of the large and luxurious 2023 BMW 7 Series, the i7 charges onto this list thanks to its ability to add 120 miles of range in 15 minutes. That only accounts for 41 percent of its MotorTrend Road-Trip Range of 292 miles, mostly because of its big 101.7-kWh battery pack and max charging speed of 195 kW, which you’ll discover is merely adequate compared to the higher-ranked vehicles on this list. That said, the i7 xDrive60 is still a thoroughly impressive (and heavy) electric sedan that manages to go from zero to 60 mph in just 4.3 seconds.
9. 2022 BMW IX XDrive50
Range added after 15 minutes of charging: 122 miles
Range added after 30 minutes of charging: 207 miles
Range added after 45 minutes of charging: 266 miles
Range added after 60 minutes of charging: 302 miles
Time for 5-80% charge: 39 minutes
Time for 5-100% charge: 73 minutes
Peak charging power: 195 kW
If the 2022 BMW iX’s gorgeous interior doesn’t impress you, perhaps its charging speed will. BMW’s luxurious EV SUV added 122 miles of range in just 15 minutes in our testing. Increasing that wait time to 73 minutes will get you to 100 percent, good for a MotorTrend Road-Trip Range of 312 miles, which should get you from Los Angeles to Las Vegas with enough juice to spare to hunt down Sin City’s newfangled Sphere. That impressive real-world range is possible due to the BMW’s large 105-kWh battery pack and comes very close to the EPA’s combined range rating of 315 miles.
8. 2023 Genesis Electrified GV70
Range added after 15 minutes of charging: 123 miles
Range added after 30 minutes of charging: 173 miles
Range added after 45 minutes of charging: 189 miles
Range added after 60 minutes of charging: 191 miles
Time for 5-80% charge: 20 minutes
Time for 5-100% charge: 37 minutes
Peak charging power: 232 kW
As its name suggests, this luxury crossover is the electric version of the popular gas-powered Genesis GV70 compact SUV, which won our 2022 SUV of the Year award. EVs based on internal combustion platforms typically come with shortcomings, but charging speed is not one of them for the Electrified GV70. With a nearly depleted battery and a 350-kW DC fast charger, you should be good to cover another 123 miles of driving after 15 minutes of charging.
7. 2022 Tesla Model 3 Dual Motor
Range added after 15 minutes of charging: 130 miles
Range added after 30 minutes of charging: 201 miles
Range added after 45 minutes of charging: 239 miles
Range added after 60 minutes of charging: 255 miles
Time for 5-80% charge: 31 minutes
Time for 5-100% charge: 66 minutes
Peak charging power: 248 kW
It should come as no surprise that the Model 3 Dual Motor’s max charging rate of 250 kW is the second-highest in this list, as Tesla has had over a decade to develop and revise its EV technology. While the Model 3 lands at seventh on this list, Tesla’s charging experience is subjectively the best in this group, and it’s not even close. Thanks to the sheer volume and reliability of Tesla’s Supercharger stations, you should have no issue adding 130 miles of range to your Model 3 in just 15 minutes consistently.
6. 2023 Lucid Air Touring
Range added after 15 minutes of charging: 132 miles
Range added after 30 minutes of charging: 197 miles
Range added after 45 minutes of charging: 232 miles
Range added after 60 minutes of charging: 261 miles
Time for 5-80% charge: 40 minutes
Time for 5-100% charge: 89 minutes
Peak charging power: 229 kW
Edging out the Tesla by a couple miles in our testing is the 2023 Lucid Air Touring, which recorded 132 miles of range after 15 minutes of being plugged in to a 350-kW fast charger. Leave it plugged in for an hour, and you’ll return to a vehicle with 261 miles of range, which is just enough to get you from New York City to our nation’s capital. The Air Touring is a midgrade trim among the handful available in the sedan’s lineup, and it’s arguably the most desirable one thanks to its mix of performance, value, and, of course, fast-charging capabilities.
5. 2024 Lucid Air Pure RWD And 2023 Lucid Air Pure AWD
Range added after 15 minutes of charging: 149/150 miles
Range added after 30 minutes of charging: 243/219 miles
Range added after 45 minutes of charging: 302/256 miles
Range added after 60 minutes of charging: 320/279 miles
Time for 5-80% charge: 34/44 minutes
Time for 5-100% charge: 104/97 minutes
Peak charging power: 214/258 kW
The Lucid Air Pure, available in RWD and AWD configurations, is the base model in the luxury electric sedan’s lineup. One of the differences between the Lucid Air Pure is its smaller 88-kWh battery pack, compared to 92 kWh in the Air Touring. That said, the base model Lucid still boasts impressive charging figures with the Pure RWD adding 149 miles of range after 15 minutes of charging (and the Pure AWD essentially tied at 150 miles). Not bad for an eye-catching, tech-rich luxury sedan that starts at around $80,000 and can run from 0 to 60 mph in just 4.2 seconds (in RWD form).
4. 2023 Hyundai Ioniq 6 Limited Long Range AWD
Range added after 15 minutes of charging: 152 miles
Range added after 30 minutes of charging: 207 miles
Range added after 45 minutes of charging: 227 miles
Range added after 60 minutes of charging: 229 miles
Time for 5-80% charge: 20 minutes
Time for 5-100% charge: 47 minutes
Peak charging power: 237 kW
Hyundai is here to prove you don’t need to part with $80,000 to own an electric sedan with impressive acceleration and charging performance. With a 0-60-mph time of 4.4 seconds, the $50,150 Ioniq 6 Limited Long Range AWD also managed to wow us with its ability to add 152 miles of range in just 15 minutes. That’s a whopping 66 percent of its 229-mile MotorTrend Road-Trip Range. We typically advise against charging to 100 percent at a fast charger because the final 20 percent can take even longer than the first 75 percent, but in the Ioniq 6 a full charge takes just 47 minutes—often faster than you can grab a bite to eat during a road trip. We knew the Ioniq 6 would be good after giving the boxier Ioniq 5 our 2023 SUV of the Year honors. The better efficiency of the Ioniq 6’s sleek and low sedan body means it has even better range and charging performance.
3. 2022 Lucid Air Grand Touring Performance
Range added after 15 minutes of charging: 162 miles
Range added after 30 minutes of charging: 248 miles
Range added after 45 minutes of charging: 299 miles
Range added after 60 minutes of charging: 320 miles
Time for 5-80% charge: 32 minutes
Time for 5-100% charge: 79 minutes
Peak charging power: 314 kW
The 2022 Lucid Air Grand Touring Performance sits above the Air Touring and Air Pure, packing a larger 112-kWh battery pack and stronger motors for a monstrous 1,050 horsepower and a 0-60-mph time of just 2.7 seconds. It also boasts the best max charging rate on this list at 300 kW (though we saw speeds as high as 314 kW). We measured 162 miles of range added after 15 minutes of charging and a bladder-busting MotorTrend Road-Trip Range of 330 miles. Achieving those numbers, of course, requires a reliable and fully functional charging unit—something non-Tesla service providers continue to struggle with.
2. 2022 Kia EV6 Wind AWD
Range added after 15 minutes of charging: 164 miles
Range added after 30 minutes of charging: 241 miles
Range added after 45 minutes of charging: 260 miles
Range added after 60 minutes of charging: n/a
Time for 5-80% charge: 20 minutes
Time for 5-100% charge: 44 minutes
Peak charging power: 237 kW
Our long-term evaluation of a 2022 EV6 Wind AWD is further solidifying the fact that Kia did its homework developing its first dedicated electric vehicle. Not only does it have the looks, but its 800-volt architecture also ensures short sessions at DC fast chargers. After 15 minutes of being plugged in to a 350-kWh fast charger, the EV6 was ready to go with 164 miles of range. Reaching 100 percent and its MotorTrend Road-Trip Range of 260 miles took just 44 minutes. These figures make it one of the best road-tripping EVs on the market. And it’s reasonably affordable, too, with our test car priced at $55,500.
1. 2023 Hyundai Ioniq 6 SE Long Range RWD
Range added after 15 minutes of charging: 193 miles
Range added after 30 minutes of charging: 263 miles
Range added after 45 minutes of charging: 288 miles
Range added after 60 minutes of charging: 291 miles
Time for 5-80% charge: 19 minutes
Time for 5-100% charge: 48 minutes
Peak charging power: 238 kW
Topping our list of fast-charging EVs by a huge margin is the 2023 Hyundai Ioniq 6 SE Long Range RWD. As we stated in our First Test review, the Ioniq 6 “ends Tesla’s monopoly on reasonably priced electric sedans and beats the Model 3 at its own game” due to its ability to add 193 miles of range after 15 minutes of charging. That number jumps to a whooping 291 miles after just 48 minutes. Next year Hyundai is expected to adopt Tesla’s North American Charging Standard plug, giving the Ioniq 6 access to Tesla’s Supercharging network and making it an even more attractive alternative to the Model 3.
The Fastest Charging EVs Of 2023
Miles of range added after 15/30/45/60 minutes of charging
2023 Hyundai Ioniq 6 SE Long Range RWD: 193/263/288/291 miles
2022 Kia EV6 Wind AWD: 164/241/260/— miles
2022 Lucid Air Grand Touring Performance: 162/248/299/320 miles
2023 Hyundai Ioniq 6 Limited Long Range AWD: 152/207/227/229 miles
2023 Lucid Air Pure RWD: 149/243/302/320 miles
2023 Lucid Air Touring: 132/197/232/261 miles
2022 Tesla Model 3 Dual Motor: 130/201/239/255 miles
2023 Genesis Electrified GV70: 123/173/189/191 miles
2022 BMW iX xDrive50: 122/207/266/302 miles
2023 BMW i7 xDrive60: 120/215/267/289 miles
