Question: How long does it take to charge the battery and how long would this then run for?

Omar Mustufvi answered on 19 Mar 2012:

Good question, this is one of the main worries for electric car enthusiasts because batteries only store about 1/20th the amount of energy that petrol/diesel can.

The most common batteries being used in hybrid or electric cars are called Lithium-ion which are very similar to those found in your mobile phone or laptop.

The length of time it takes to charge a battery depends on its size, for example the Nissan Leaf takes about 2 hours to fully charge and this would last you about 100 miles. There are chargers (called rapid chargers) which can charge up a battery this size in about 30 minutes but there is a worry that this can damage the battery if used too much.

Battery technologies are being researched now more than ever and as we understand them more we can find ways to pack more energy into them.