How many miles of charge can I get from a Volta station?
The number of miles of driving you can get from a charging session depends on several factors.
These factors include:
- How much power (“charging speed”) the station can deliver, measured in kW
- How much power the vehicle can accept, measured in kW
- The duration of your charging session
- How much energy your vehicle’s battery can store, measured in kWh
- The efficiency of your vehicle, measured in miles/kWh
Other factors that can influence your vehicle’s charging capacity and speed:
- The charge state of your battery: most vehicles reduce the charging speed significantly as the battery approaches 90%-100% of charge, sometimes as early as 70%-80%.
- Battery temperature: Most vehicles reduce charging speed when the battery is too cold or too hot.
- Imbalanced battery cells after a longer period of driving or charging. Check your vehicle’s manual to see if you can prepare your battery for optimal charging in advance of a session.
The maximum charging speed Volta chargers can deliver are:
- L2: 6-10 kW, or up to 35 miles of range per hour of charging. Note that miles per kWh vary from ~2 to ~4 miles per kWh depending on your vehicle.
- DC fast: 50 kW and faster, or up to 210 miles of range per hour of charging, depending on your vehicle.
