kW, kWh and charging time: a plain-language guide

If you are new to electric driving, charging stations can feel like they speak another language. Here is everything you actually need, in plain words.

kWh is the size of the tank

A kilowatt-hour (kWh) measures energy. Your car's battery capacity is quoted in kWh the same way a petrol tank is quoted in litres. A typical Indian electric SUV carries somewhere between 30 and 80 kWh.

kW is the speed of the pump

A kilowatt (kW) measures power — how quickly energy flows into your battery. A 60 kW charger can, at best, deliver 60 kWh of energy in one hour. Double the kW and, roughly, you halve the time. This is why DC fast chargers on highways start at 60 kW: long-distance journeys need meaningful charge in the length of a meal break.

So how long will charging take?

A rough mental model: divide the energy you need by the charger's power. If you want to add 40 kWh at a 60 kW charger, that is about 40 minutes. In practice your car manages the speed — charging slows near a full battery to protect it — so a typical highway stop from around 20% to 80% takes 30 to 60 minutes on a fast charger.

• City AC charging (7–22 kW): overnight or during work hours
• Highway DC fast charging (60 kW+): 30–60 minutes over a meal
• You rarely charge to 100% on trips — 80% is the efficient stop

What you pay for is energy, not time

Fair charging pricing is per kWh — you pay for the energy you actually receive, the way you pay per litre of fuel. On our network, the exact per-kWh rate is shown in the app before you plug in, so you always know the price of a session before it starts — no surge, no surprises, the same rate for everyone at that charger.

The one habit that removes all stress

Plan your stop, not your charge. Pick where you will pause — for food, for rest, for the view — and charge there. When chargers are placed where journeys naturally break, electric driving stops feeling like maths and starts feeling like any other road trip. That is precisely the network we are building.