Chargepoint and EVGo chargers

[Anonymous]

Well, what is the real world expectation?

The Bolt EV is not sold as an inter-city car. Aren't we pushing the envelope here?

I had a lot of fun much of the time in the right lane behind an 18 wheeler on Interstate 5 today driving up to Frazier Park in my test of the EZGo 30 minute timer.

 

[Nagorak]

Yeah, I suppose that true. It does at least make long distance travel viable. That being said, if Nissan/Hyundai, etc, make a 200 mile EV that can DC charge faster, I can see that as being a solid selling point.

 

[Anonymous]

...if Nissan/Hyundai, etc, make a 200 mile EV that can DC charge faster, I can see that as being a solid selling point.

When, where?

We still need the charging infrastructure to be built out too!

When on I-5???

 

[GetOffYourGas]

I think one disheartening thing is just how slow you actually charge at these "fast chargers". A Tesla with upgraded onboard charger can charge at 50 miles/hour from a 80Amp circuit. That's almost as fast as a Bolt's fast charging. Although it looks like starting from a lower level you do get more like 75 m/hour. If you could actually charge a decent amount in 30 minutes, the shut-off wouldn't be as much of a problem.

GM advertises 90 miles in 30 minutes (from low SoC). Thats 180 miles/hour. Are you saying the real world is less than half that?

 

[michael]

Well, what is the real world expectation?

The Bolt EV is not sold as an inter-city car. Aren't we pushing the envelope here?

I had a lot of fun much of the time in the right lane behind an 18 wheeler on Interstate 5 today driving up to Frazier Park in my test of the EZGo 30 minute timer.

That's my view too. DCFC I see as for a quick add of 50-80 miles, not for cross country travel

 

[Anonymous]

I think one disheartening thing is just how slow you actually charge at these "fast chargers". A Tesla with upgraded onboard charger can charge at 50 miles/hour from a 80Amp circuit. That's almost as fast as a Bolt's fast charging. Although it looks like starting from a lower level you do get more like 75 m/hour. If you could actually charge a decent amount in 30 minutes, the shut-off wouldn't be as much of a problem.

GM advertises 90 miles in 30 minutes (from low SoC). Thats 180 miles/hour. Are you saying the real world is less than half that?

That is 180 miles/hour if the DCFC does not slow down at some point like 65% or 80% of charge.

 

[michael]

I think one disheartening thing is just how slow you actually charge at these "fast chargers". A Tesla with upgraded onboard charger can charge at 50 miles/hour from a 80Amp circuit. That's almost as fast as a Bolt's fast charging. Although it looks like starting from a lower level you do get more like 75 m/hour. If you could actually charge a decent amount in 30 minutes, the shut-off wouldn't be as much of a problem.

GM advertises 90 miles in 30 minutes (from low SoC). Thats 180 miles/hour. Are you saying the real world is less than half that?

I'd believe GM. This is with a 80 kW charger. Not many of those around. People have been using lower powered ones.

90 miles is about 22 kWh (assume 4 miles/kWh), so an average charge rate of 45 kW. This seems reasonable for an 80 kW charger.

If hypothetically an 80 kW charger NEVER slowed down (an impossibility) than it would charge the battery completely in about 50 minutes.

 

[Pigwich]

I wonder if we might spin this thread off in to a battery chemistry conversation? The Spark EV used some nano-phosphate chemistry, which might be better suited to higher charge currents... and for a pack that's a third of the size, it sure did gulp down the power. I figured that the Bolt would easily suck down 120KW because of it's much larger capacity battery. I think everybody was expecting that - I mean, ya know, the voltage is roughly the same, so it stands to reason that all things being equal, you could push 3x the current. Apparently that's not the case, and in fact, it seems like it's actually LESS current. This could be battery chemistry not being capable of such a high "C" rating , or it could be the wiring inside the battery, or it could be the cooling system limitations, OR it could be GM playing it safe and trying to not catch the car on fire in it's first year, and who could blame them? At any rate, until somebody who knows more than all of us chimes in (GM customer care AHEM) then all of the gear-heads will be dissatisfied with the quality of the answer and will continue to grumble.

 

[Pigwich]

I expected that I could make it as most of that trip is downhill, but just to be safe, I charged up at the 14-50 outlet at the Shorepower for about 45 minutes to get up to 34 miles on the Mileage Gauge.

Do tell about your Shorepower experience? What charger do you use for your portable escapades? And when is somebody going to make a portable single phase CCS charger that isn't a terrifying plastic box on Alibaba? A 14-50 should be good for 11 KW of single phase in theory...



No way I'd trust those AC pins to take 50 amps!!!

Looks pretty heavy, but reasonable for a 10KW power supply. I'd like to know how long the capacitors end up surviving

 

[GetOffYourGas]

I think one disheartening thing is just how slow you actually charge at these "fast chargers". A Tesla with upgraded onboard charger can charge at 50 miles/hour from a 80Amp circuit. That's almost as fast as a Bolt's fast charging. Although it looks like starting from a lower level you do get more like 75 m/hour. If you could actually charge a decent amount in 30 minutes, the shut-off wouldn't be as much of a problem.

GM advertises 90 miles in 30 minutes (from low SoC). Thats 180 miles/hour. Are you saying the real world is less than half that?

That is 180 miles/hour if the DCFC does not slow down at some point like 65% or 80% of charge.

Understood, but thanks for mentioning that. Ideally you would drive until the battery is low, charge for 30 minutes, and repeat. That keeps the battery in the sweet spot for DCQC. And yes, it requires a charger every 90 miles.

 

[Anonymous]

I expected that I could make it as most of that trip is downhill, but just to be safe, I charged up at the 14-50 outlet at the Shorepower for about 45 minutes to get up to 34 miles on the Mileage Gauge.

Do tell about your Shorepower experience? What charger do you use for your portable escapades? And when is somebody going to make a portable single phase CCS charger that isn't a terrifying plastic box on Alibaba? A 14-50 should be good for 11 KW of single phase in theory...



No way I'd trust those AC pins to take 50 amps!!!

Looks pretty heavy, but reasonable for a 10KW power supply. I'd like to know how long the capacitors end up surviving

Actually, I plug an adapter (evseadapters.com) into the 14-50 that matches up to the connector on AV's TurboCord EVSE that I carry in the car, in this case with an extension cord in the middle. The TurboCord only draws about 16A and I believe is rated 3.3KW

 

[Anonymous]

Just used the EVGo in Sherman Oaks, CA and as I now expect even with the On-The-Go plan, it stopped at 30 minutes.

I walked out after 32 minutes and my Bolt EV was "barking" at a BMW i3 owner who dared unplug me! hahaha :lol:

 

[BarfOMatic]

Is it possible to set a preference on the Bolt so that it doesn't honk if the car wasn't charging when it was unplugged?

 

[Anonymous]

I can't find it right now in the manual on my computer in my home, but I have found it in the car. It is one of the user on/off settings. I think it is not that well defined: that is either you turn the complete feature off or on; whether or not charging is complete or not.

 

[Anonymous]

Used my closest EVGo in Sherman Oaks early this morning about 3am, I noticed the following:

I was at about 96 miles remaining.

The EVGo did not stop at 30 minutes, but continued charging.

The charge rates were 35 KWh until 80%; then 24 KWh until 85%, then 16 KWh.

It then stopped a little short of one hour at 86% with some sort of proximity error asking to unplug/plug and for the EVGo card again but I was happy with the charge and unplugging reset the machine for the next charge and I left with about 200 miles.

I topped off at home at 110V; completed at about 12:30pm.

 

[sgt1372]

What charger do you use for your portable escapades? And when is somebody going to make a portable single phase CCS charger that isn't a terrifying plastic box on Alibaba? A 14-50 should be good for 11 KW of single phase in theory...

No way I'd trust those AC pins to take 50 amps!!!

Looks pretty heavy, but reasonable for a 10KW power supply. I'd like to know how long the capacitors end up surviving

Actually, I plug an adapter (evseadapters.com) into the 14-50 that matches up to the connector on AV's TurboCord EVSE that I carry in the car, in this case with an extension cord in the middle. The TurboCord only draws about 16A and I believe is rated 3.3KW

So, now that I've got my home EVSE mounted and ready to connect, I'm thinking about what other things I'll need for on the road and have pretty much decided on these:

A 25 ft 240V/16A EVSE charge cord w/a universal 14-30/14-50/14-60 connector from here:

https://www.evseadapters.com/collections/ev-chargers-and-evses/products/16a-240v-charger-evse-refurbished?variant=27438563144

And a 40 ft J1772 extension cord from here:

http://www.evwest.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=35&products_id=360

Regarding the extension cord, I figured longer is better but are there any reasons (such as lower charge rate or electrical risks) why I should consider a 20 ft extension instead?

If so, I could buy this one and save a few dollars in the process:

https://www.evseadapters.com/collections/ev-chargers-and-evses/products/j1772-extension-cord-20-ft

Any comments and opinions that'll help me make the "right" choices are welcome. Thanks!

 

[michael]

I've got a 25 foot J1772 extension from Tucson EV

http://tucsonev.com/


It works fine, the cable itself is very flexible and coils up nicely.

 

[Anonymous]

So, now that I've got my home EVSE mounted and ready to connect, I'm thinking about what other things I'll need for on the road...

How about just a trailer with your BMW :lol:

 

[sgt1372]

How about just a trailer with your BMW :lol:

Been thru THAT phase ready.

Previously owned and towed a 30' trailer and hauled a 4k# camper (not at the same time but could have done that) w/my F250 longbed 4x4 diesel. Still have the truck and some accessories but got rid of the trailer and camper long ago.

 

[Anonymous]

Used a Greenlots DC Fast Charger early this morning at the Vons shopping center on Pass Avenue in Burbank with about 95 miles remaining. It brought my Bolt EV back to full charge in 90 minutes. It started at 45 KWh. I think their rate is $.28 or $.29 per KWh.

I was going to track the decline in the KWh rate, but I slept most of the time :roll:

It turns out this fast charger is even closer to my home (3.6 miles) than the EVGo I used previously (4.0), with the cheapest (free) still being my Chevy dealer (4.1) which of course is limited to business hours. My last two fast charges have been in the middle of the night after Uber driving.