Max charge rate is such a poor metric, as actual charge rate as a function of SOC varies so much between cars.
I'd like to see some standardized figure which is max average charge rate over 15 min, or perhaps minimum charge time for 30 kWh (~150 km range) or something along those lines.
My car has 120 kW peak IIRC, but I've never reached it. Once it's past 20% it has dropped to like 70 kW or something like that. And since I try my best to keep it above 20%, that 120 kW number doesn't mean much to me.
My sister has an ID.4 and it's the same story there. However I do know there are cars that are much better at this, able to sustain quite high charging rate up to or above 50% SOC.
On the on hand you are right, but when you go from a max charge rate of ~70 kW (which I have actually gotten on occasion), to a max charge rate of ~170 kW (the advertised rate of the Buzz), you are going to get a very noticeable and real change in charge time.
When peak rates are similar, I agree that they don't tell you that much. When one peak rate is triple another, then the specifics of the charge curve don't matter that much, it's going to charge a lot faster.
> When one peak rate is triple another, then the specifics of the charge curve don't matter that much
Sure, but in my experience, cars of similar size and price don't differ by 3x in their peak rate. After all when you buy a car you have a budget and you're looking for some specific features which usually dictate the size. I think it's rare that one considers both an Ford F150 and a Toyota Corolla, weighing their various pros and cons, unless the only metric is "as cheap as possible".
The sibling reply is a good example. The Ioniq 5 takes about 15 minutes to charge 50kWh from zero, peaking at ~230kW.
The ID.4 GTX has a peak charging rate of ~180kW, 78% of the Ioniq, so naively one could calculate it'll take 19 minutes to get to 50kWh from zero. But no, the measured value is 27 minutes, 40% longer!
We have standardized tests for consumption, I just wish they'd introduce something similar for charging so it's easier to compare.
Max charge rate is such a poor metric, as actual charge rate as a function of SOC varies so much between cars.
I'd like to see some standardized figure which is max average charge rate over 15 min, or perhaps minimum charge time for 30 kWh (~150 km range) or something along those lines.
My car has 120 kW peak IIRC, but I've never reached it. Once it's past 20% it has dropped to like 70 kW or something like that. And since I try my best to keep it above 20%, that 120 kW number doesn't mean much to me.
My sister has an ID.4 and it's the same story there. However I do know there are cars that are much better at this, able to sustain quite high charging rate up to or above 50% SOC.