Optimum garage temperature for your EV

plj said:

My Bolt salesman, who was well informed, told me to plug the Bolt in whenever ambient temperatures are below 32° and above 90.° Plus, put it in "immediate" charge mode. The first half of his advice is in the manual (page 231): "It is recommended that the vehicle be plugged in when temperatures are below 0°C (32°F) and above 32°C (90°F) to maximize high voltage battery life." Note the manual doesn't say anything about immediate charge mode, but as my experience is that is necessary for the battery conditioning to work.

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To be clear, this precludes the use of Time-Of-Use charging or Departure Time charging, right? I hope this isn't true, as I don't want to be charging immediately just to have the car sit all night / day with a full battery. BUT I want the car to use as much shore power as necessary to keep the battery at a happy/healthy temperature.

GetOffYourGas said:

To be clear, this precludes the use of Time-Of-Use charging or Departure Time charging, right? I hope this isn't true, as I don't want to be charging immediately just to have the car sit all night / day with a full battery. BUT I want the car to use as much shore power as necessary to keep the battery at a happy/healthy temperature.

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Yes, my salesman made that point clear, and my experience on a hot day confirmed that. In California, those hot hours are peak power consumption hours, and I would I would prefer not to be consuming power. Nonetheless, I want to protect my Bolt's battery, and I set my charge rate a 8 Amps and plug in my Bolt on hot (and cold) days.

I wish there was a way to tell the car to use the plug for battery thermal management only (that is, don't charge the battery). But perhaps that's too much of a nuance for many customers. Just how complex shall Chevy make the car? (Sort of like the Apple / Windows debate...) Me? I would like more control and information...