Happy National Plug In Day!
I was testing the new electric car from Chrysler — the Fiat 500E — yesterday in the Malibu Hills when I found myself being 
followed by a gentleman driving the Tesla S, the four-door electric sedan with a striking design and sizable price tag ($62,400 base) compared to my spunky little Fiat ($31,800).
He flagged me down and starting to ask questions about the 500e. As usually happens when talking about electric cars, our conversation turned toward battery range and charging times. I was surprised to hear that his Teslas (yes, that’s a plural he owns two — the roadster and the S model) get more than 200 
miles on a full battery and will charge up in just over two hours.
This differed greatly from my recent experience with the Nissan Leaf, where I was lucky to get a full charge in under four hours, and that would give me a range of about 85 miles.
The Fiat 500e that I was currently driving listed a range of about 87 miles on a battery that charges in under four hours.
So what’s the difference between range and charging time of electric vehicles? A lot. Here’s a great, detailed explainer from HybridCars.com about which electric cars charge the fastest.
greenfamilycar 