1. The Netherlands currently has 2,187 fast charging points. Most of them are in North Holland (387 units). EV drivers in Zeeland must plan their charging stops well, because that province has only 27 fast chargers.
2. Fast charging usually takes 30 minutes to an hour. The exact time it takes depends on the charging capacity of the car, the charging capacity of the quick charger and the battery capacity. After all, more power goes into a large battery than in a small one.
3. Fast chargers are getting faster. Most charging stations along the motorway have a charging capacity of 50 kW, but 175 or 350 kW piles are being installed at more and more locations. You want to use it if your electric car can handle more than 50 kW (such as the Peugeot e-208 and Opel Corsa-e, the Hyundai Kona Electric and the Kia e-Niro and Kia e-Soul).
4. At the moment, the Porsche Taycan (test) is the ultimate fast charging king (270 kW), closely followed by the Tesla Model 3 (250 kW) and the Audi E-Tron (150 kW).
5. Tesla has its own fast chargers – called Superchargers. Only Teslas can charge there. At the moment this is still possible with 150 kW, but the new Superchargers (V3) support 250 kW. In this way, the battery of a Model 3 Long Range is 80 percent full again after 25 minutes.
6. With many electric cars it is the case: the fuller the battery, the slower the fast charging. Every electric car has its own charging process. You can view the graph of your car on the Fastned website.
7. If you are going to fast charge, you can leave the charging cable in the trunk – the required charging cable is attached to the fast charger.
8. Most fast chargers have three plugs: CCS, Chademo and AC. In colloquial terms: the 8-shaped plug that fits in many EVs (CCS), the Nissan Leaf plug (Chademo) and the Renault Zoe plug (AC).
9. Most new electric cars have a CCS connection. This is the only plug that the Ionity fast chargers support. Ionity is building a European fast charging network and is a partnership of BMW, Mercedes, Ford, Volkswagen and Hyundai.
10. The colder it is outside, the less energy you get in and out of the battery. When it is high summer, a battery pack can also get too hot. To prevent this, some batteries are cooled with liquid, others use air.
11. Especially if you want to fast charge several times a day, a liquid-cooled battery is a must.