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Speaking of buying American (and more importantly from a family business as opposed to a huge corporation) is there any reason you wouldn't just go with one of these units?

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vaylen said:
Speaking of buying American (and more importantly from a family business as opposed to a huge corporation) is there any reason you wouldn't just go with one of these units?

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Link was deleted in above post as it smelled a lot like an advert. But to answer the question ("any reason you wouldn't")

1) more expensive than buying direct from OpenEVSE ?

2) Because the purpose of the thread was inexpensive EVSEs, and $650 doesn't exactly fall into the category?

3) Because the site is selling 30A-to-50A adapters (i.e., allowing to plug a NEMA 14-50 plug into a 30 Amp circuit) and that is just unsafe?
 
Nope, no ad. I just noticed his site when I was looking for a way to share my dryer outlet between my dryer and my EV and saw on a chevy Volt site that he made boxes that did that. I am getting my Bolt in a couple of weeks and am down for any solution that lets me use delayed charging and is portable when need be. I was honestly looking for advice. I don't consider $550 cheap either ($300 for the Tesla Gen 2 mobile connector and another $250 for the Tesla Tap).
 
vaylen said:
I am getting my Bolt in a couple of weeks and am down for any solution that lets me use delayed charging and is portable when need be.


When you say "use delayed charging" you understand that you can set the Bolt for departure based charging, and nothing special is required of the EVSE?
 
No, I was not aware of that. I rented one from TURO for 4 days and loved it enough to get one, but I didn't manage to discover every feature the car had. That's good to hear, one less expensive feature to buy on the charger.
 
vaylen said:
No, I was not aware of that. I rented one from TURO for 4 days and loved it enough to get one, but I didn't manage to discover every feature the car had. That's good to hear, one less expensive feature to buy on the charger.

You can download a PDF copy of the owner's manual here :
https://my.chevrolet.com/content/dam/gmownercenter/gmna/dynamic/manuals/2018/Chevrolet/Bolt/2018-chevrolet-bolt-ev-owners-manual.pdf

(It's a good thing to have, as you can search for things like 'delay' and find all mentions of delayed charging.)

Secondly, there are quite a few threads on EVSEs already spread around the site (brands, wants, needs, opinions, ...) but, in short :

- it is claimed that the standard EVSE that ships with the Bolt can be run at 240V with no danger, and many on this site have done so (made a "240V-to-120V-socket" pigtail converter). This allows one to charge the Bolt at 12 amps @ 240V (~ 2.9 kW). Doing such a thing is dangerous in that if the 'pigtail' (e.g., "short extension cord") is used by unknowing party/parties for other devices, it can start a fire (plugging a 120V appliance into 240V). Some have advised both (1) adding a 'to be used with Bolt charger *only*' tag/sign to the pigtail, and (2) zip-tying it physically to the Bolt EVSE cord so that it can't "wander off" inadvertently. (I said "it is claimed that" because if you decide to do that and you have a problem, it is your fault, not mine ; I am not recommending it at all - I am lawyer-adverse.)

- Unless you plan on driving more than (say) 120 miles a day on multiple days now and then, OR plan on using your Bolt for "road trips" that exceed the range of the Bolt (and have no DCFC fast charging available), then having an EVSE that charges faster than 16A @ 240V really isn't needed . I say needed because you may still want one (for, say, peace of mind - knowing that you CAN charge the battery at the max rate). a 10 hour charge at around 3.6 kW (16A) will put 36 kWh into the battery, or 140+ highway miles. If you have a public L2 charger a half mile from your house (like I do) then you could always plug the car in for 4-5 hours in the evening and get 6.6 kW (and a "half tank full") if needed.

- Some people really like having a portable 32A / 240V (7.6 kW) charger in the trunk "just in case" (or because they expect to use it). The most "useful" plug to have on such a unit is most likely a NEMA 14-50 plug, as it seems to be the most "universal". NEMA 14-50 is available in campgrounds, for example. Some people have a collection of 'pigtails' to be able to plug into other types of sockets (such as plugging your NEMA 14-50 plug into a NEMA 14-30 electrical dryer socket). If you go that route, you MUST be able to set the charging rate of your EVSE (you never want to plug a 32A EVSE at full power into a plug that is rated for less than 40 amps!! NEVER !!!) There are lots of 7+ kW EVSEs that have been mentioned on this site. Go looking, you will find many threads.

- Several people here adore the Gen 2 Tesla Universal Mobile Charger (UMC) along EVSE - and it does have it's plusses. It is also pretty expensive (since it has to be used with a Tesla-plug-converter (a "Tesla Tap") in order to mate with the J1772 socket on the Bolt) : over $550 for the full hookup. One of its touted advantages is that it can use "portable plug attachments" that automatically set the max charge rate to match the type of plug attached to the unit, so that one can't over-burden a (properly configured) electrical circuit.
 
OK then...

I would take the excellent advice that SparkE gave you and consider using the factory Bolt EVSE (comes with car) and the cars departure based charging feature. Problem solved for very little $$...
 
So has anybody definitively determined if you can simply CHOP THE TESLA PLUG off the UMC and install a J1772 plug? The TeslaTap is too small to have any intelligent circuitry in there, I'll bet $6 it just changes the shape of the plug, but does anybody have any proof to put in this pudding?
 
Pigwich said:
So has anybody definitively determined if you can simply CHOP THE TESLA PLUG off the UMC and install a J1772 plug? The TeslaTap is too small to have any intelligent circuitry in there, I'll bet $6 it just changes the shape of the plug, but does anybody have any proof to put in this pudding?

Technically it could have a microcontroller to handle different pilot signalling. I suppose the easiest way to find out is to dissect a TeslaTap and see for yourself. Someone must have done this at some point.
 
Pigwich said:
So has anybody definitively determined if you can simply CHOP THE TESLA PLUG off the UMC and install a J1772 plug? The TeslaTap is too small to have any intelligent circuitry in there, I'll bet $6 it just changes the shape of the plug, but does anybody have any proof to put in this pudding?
Such a product is available, it's called the "Jesla". Unfortunately, it's more expensive than buying the Tesla UMC and a J-Adapter separately, and less useful (because it can't be used to charge your car from a public Tesla destination charger).
 
I don't own a Tesla, so I don't actively seek out destination chargers, but I have only seen two of them in the wild where there were no J plugs too.

At the end of the day, I'm not a big fan of the non standard connector. I get why Tesla does it, and that's fine, but they all ship with J1772 to Tesla adapters, and and supposedly J1772 can run at 80 amps but I've never seen it, plus my crappy cord at home gets lukewarm at 32 amps and it's fatter than a hot dog.

On the other hand, I don't know if you can change the charging current on the UMC, which might be handy in places with shady power. Weren't we talking about a Chinese eBay special that COULD do that?
 
Pigwich said:
J1772 can run at 80 amps but I've never seen it

Usually in fairly remote places. I've charged my Leaf at 6kW on a J1772 that would support 70+ Amps several times. It would have been nice to charge more than twice as fast. Dual charger, or similar, probably as an extra cost option, would be a nice thing for my next EV. Only Tesla offers this option.


https://www.plugshare.com/location/19942

https://www.plugshare.com/location/115192

https://www.plugshare.com/location/61025
 
WetEV said:
Pigwich said:
J1772 can run at 80 amps but I've never seen it

Usually in fairly remote places. I've charged my Leaf at 6kW on a J1772 that would support 70+ Amps several times. It would have been nice to charge more than twice as fast. Dual charger, or similar, probably as an extra cost option, would be a nice thing for my next EV. Only Tesla offers this option.

I read fairly recently that the 2019 extended range LEAF2 might have a 9+ kW charger built-in. (Frankly, in a 60+ kWh vehicle, having the L2 charger be able to charge at 10 kW or more is a big plus.)
 
Man, a beefy charger like that sure would be nice, even for the current Bolt, the 10Kw CCS are almost pointless. When are the cheap eBay 10kw CCS units coming out?
 
Pigwich said:
I don't own a Tesla, so I don't actively seek out destination chargers, but I have only seen two of them in the wild where there were no J plugs too.
The nice thing about having a J-Adapter or TeslaTap is that sometimes the J1772 stations are all occupied but the Tesla destination charger isn't - so it gives you an additional option to use in those kinds of situations.
 
I have a question about a TeslaTap. We have a Chevy Bolt, and would like to visit a town which is about 180 miles away, which is in range with a full charge. To use the TeslaTap at a public charging station, is it correct to assume that I will need an app to pay for the charging? In this town, a network called Greenlots seems to be predominant. In general, their rates run from 0.39 to 0.79 per Kwh depending on the state, according to their website.
 
EVHOO said:
I have a question about a TeslaTap. We have a Chevy Bolt, and would like to visit a town which is about 180 miles away, which is in range with a full charge. To use the TeslaTap at a public charging station, is it correct to assume that I will need an app to pay for the charging? In this town, a network called Greenlots seems to be predominant. In general, their rates run from 0.39 to 0.79 per Kwh depending on the state, according to their website.

You very likely DO NOT need a TeslaTap. Greenlots has zero Tesla Destination chargers on their network.

There are 6 locations in the USA and one in Canada that have both Greenlots and Tesla Destination chargers, and they are all a mix, see this:

https://www.plugshare.com/location/2803

I suspect you have not yet used a public charger, but have always charged in your house... Is this correct?
 
EVHOO said:
I have a question about a TeslaTap. We have a Chevy Bolt, and would like to visit a town which is about 180 miles away, which is in range with a full charge. To use the TeslaTap at a public charging station, is it correct to assume that I will need an app to pay for the charging? In this town, a network called Greenlots seems to be predominant. In general, their rates run from 0.39 to 0.79 per Kwh depending on the state, according to their website.
The Tesla Tap will only work at Tesla "destination" chargers, which are essentially Level 2 chargers that run on 240V AC. It won't work on Tesla superchargers.

If there are no Bolt-compatible J1772 chargers (or CCS DC Fast chargers, assuming your Bolt is equpped with the DC Fast Charge option) at the town you're going to but there are Tesla destination chargers, then the Tesla Tap will give you the ability to use them.

I've never seen a Tesla destination charger that required payment, but there may be some out there. I'd advise checking the PlugShare web site or putting the PlugShare app on your smart phone - it's the best resource out there for finding chargers. It'll tell you which chargers are available and what networks, if any, they're on.
 
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