| Thanks for reading Hyperdrive, Bloomberg’s newsletter on the future of the auto world. There’s an inconvenient truth that isn’t helping electric vehicle adoption: EVs rarely charge at the maximum powers advertised. While BYD’s latest EVs coming out in China can charge in the time it takes for a gasoline fill-up, the best-in-class models currently available in Europe and the US will take around twice as long — and that’s in good conditions. In less ideal circumstances, such as on a cold day, a charge session that might otherwise take 15 or 20 minutes may last an hour. A new report from BloombergNEF estimates that the average charging power in the UK and Germany is about 70 kilowatts. This is well below the 200kW-plus peak charging rates many automakers advertise, but it’s risen from about 50kW just a few years ago. Older vehicles in the fleet drag on the average power of charging today, but even EVs with the latest technology may not meet advertised charge rates. There are two key components to the disparity. The power of charging varies based on how full the battery is — meaning, most EVs aren’t allowed to accept the advertised peak power rates beyond a certain point in the session. Factors like temperature and the technology available at the charging station also limit what can be achieved. The good news is, faster-charging vehicles are becoming more common. To give some specific examples, the Tesla Model Y will only reach its maximum 250kW charge rate for a few minutes. This is good for blasting in charge at a supercharger over 15 minutes when arriving with a pretty empty battery, but charging can be much slower if the driver arrives with a battery half full. The maximum charge rate of around 300kW on an Audi RS e-tron GT, in comparison, is much more constant and therefore more predictable for the driver. It bears noting, of course, that the Audi starts at £127,320 in the UK, almost triple the base price of the Tesla. Fastned, a European fast-charging network, analyzed the optimal charging rate of the 25 fastest-charging models on its network today. These models, which include the Xpeng G9 and G6, Kia EV9, Audi Q6 e-tron quattro and Porsche Macan 4, could reach a peak charge rate of 193kW, on average. This is about 70% higher than the average peak charge rate across the entire UK battery-electric vehicle fleet in BNEF’s analysis, and highlights the trend of rising charging rates and the future upside for operators who can shift more electricity. When Fastned analyzed how quickly these top 25 vehicles where actually charging, though, they didn’t quite live up to their potential. They only achieved around 60% of what they could for a given state of charge, on average. Monta has noticed similar trends across charging sessions taking place on its platform. For a Kia EV6, the vehicle lowers charging powers at cold temperatures to protect the battery. Fastned found that, above 25 degrees Celsius, the vehicle reaches 234kW charging and takes around 15 minutes to fill its battery from 20% to 80%. Below 10 degrees Celsius, the maximum charging drops to 74kW and could take over an hour. It’s a stark difference, but automakers are getting more sophisticated at managing battery temperature for fast charging. Teslas automatically precondition their battery when navigating to a Supercharger, optimizing the time spent charging once they get there. The charging network is still a key component in how quickly EVs charge. Considerations include the number of chargers with the latest 800-volt technology and access to large-scale grid connections that can suck up as much power as entire towns. The latter factor is only going to become more of a challenge as companies like BYD push the charge rate even higher. Its latest vehicles, which are capable of megawatt charging, will be supported by chargers that are backed up by battery storage to reduce the strain on grids. This is becoming more common, and in the UK, InstaVolt recently opened a hub of 160kW chargers that features 870 solar panels and a 4 megawatt hour battery storage system. EV charging times currently are underwhelming drivers, but this is evolving fast with the latest generation of technology. — By Madeleine Brolly  President Donald Trump speaking Thursday in the Oval Office of the White House. Photographer: Bonnie Cash/UPI President Donald Trump pitched his trade pact with the UK as a historic achievement, and the first step in his revolutionary effort to overhaul the global economy. But as the president began revealing specifics, it became clear the deal fell short of the “full and comprehensive” agreement he’d touted. The framework gives the US increased market access and a faster customs process for exports to the UK, while the UK will see limited relief on autos, steel and aluminum duties. Many other details were left to be negotiated later. “From the point of view of markets generally, as well as those who are concerned about the US economy, this is a nothingburger,” said Tim Meyer, an international trade law professor at Duke University School of Law. | 
