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The Charge Curve

HUB 04 · Charging Costs

Nissan Ariya & Leaf: Home Charging Time and Cost

The Ariya has one of the slower onboard chargers of any new EV - which is the key money-saving fact when you buy a home charger.

By Stephen V.Updated How we compare
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The Nissan Ariya is one of the few new EVs with a genuinely modest onboard charger: 7.2 kW, not the 11.5 kW most rivals accept. That single fact should change what you buy - a 48-amp charger cannot push more than 7.2 kW into the car, so paying for one is wasted money. A 32 to 40-amp charger delivers the Ariya's full home speed for less.

How long it takes

At 7.2 kW the Ariya adds roughly 20 to 22 miles of range per hour. A 10-to-80-percent top-up on the ~87 kWh battery takes about 8.5 hours - genuinely an overnight charge, and the reason to just plug in nightly rather than watch it. The older Leaf (6.6 kW onboard, ~40 to 62 kWh) is similar in spirit.

Run it for your car

Cost-to-charge calculator

Put in your electricity rate, your battery size and your car's efficiency. The math is the same one shown above, with a 10% charging loss included so the number is realistic.

$8.09
A 10% to 80% charge
$11.56
A full (empty to 100%) charge
$0.05
Cost per mile
$5.08
Cost per 100 miles

Estimate only. Actual cost depends on your exact utility rate (including any time-of-use pricing and fees), your car's real efficiency, temperature, and charging losses. Check your electric bill for your true rate.

Connector and charger

Both use a J1772 port, so any Level 2 charger works - but the smart buy is a 32 to 40-amp charger, not a 48-amp one, because the car cannot use the extra amperage. Add a NACS-to-J1772 adapter to use Tesla-style chargers.

Questions

Frequently asked

Should I buy a 48-amp charger for a Nissan Ariya?

No - the Ariya's onboard charger is capped at 7.2 kW, so it cannot use more than about 32 amps. A 48-amp charger charges it no faster; buy a 32 to 40-amp unit and save the money.

How long does a Nissan Ariya take to charge at home?

About 8.5 hours for a 10-to-80-percent top-up at its 7.2 kW rate - an overnight charge. That is a function of the car's onboard limit, not the charger, so a bigger charger will not shorten it.

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Sources

We do not run a testing lab, and we do not pretend to. Where a measured number came from someone else's lab, we name them and link them. Where we could not verify something, we say so on the page rather than quietly leaving it out. Read our full method.