Unless the station is free, you'll need an account. I recommend going to the company website for details.
2014 Volt public charging process?
I'm new to the Volt family and have questions about charging at a public station (Tesla, charge point, electrify america, etc). How does this work?
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You can't use a Tesla supercharger. You can use a Tesla destination charger with an adaptor. You can only use "Level 2" chargers from any of the other providers. Usually those charge by time, and Volts charge slowly enough that just burning the gas to get home instead is often more economical than paying for charging. Some free stations require an account for activation, though they may not charge for that.I'm new to the Volt family and have questions about charging at a public station (Tesla, charge point, electrify america, etc). How does this work?
Really, though, most of the time, it's not worth the time or bother charging out "in the wild" for Volts. Home or regular stopping spots like work are where most of the charging happens anyway, and Volt can just ... burn a little gas that's going to expire in a year anyway.
I understand that I need an account but what I don't understand is how to use them. I have a Tesla to j1442 adapter but Tesla chargers are super chargers and can't use them. However, the chargers, at Walmart, are useable but the plugs are different. I'm just confused.Unless the station is free, you'll need an account. I recommend going to the company website for details.
As hellsop stated don’t bother with public charging. Just plug in at home overnight on any 120V circuit. The little bit of money you spend on gas is negligible. Plus your ICE needs a good exercise once in a while. If your response is that you don’t have access to home charging, then the question would be why did you buy a Volt?
Volt has a J1772 port. This supplies ~240V at 6 to 80 amps, aka AC Level 2 charging. However, the gen 1 Volt only pulls 13-14A on Level 2, or just over 3kW. Depending on conditions, this may be enough to run the heat or air conditioning, or charge, but often times not both at once.
The "at Walmart" stations you're referring to I assume are Electricity America stations, which have CCS and possibly Chademo plugs. The top half of the CCS plug is designed to mate with the J1772, but it's only used for communication, not power. The Volt cannot physically accept the lower two pins of CCS, so will never mate or take power from CCS dispensers. Chademo (the blue ones), doesn't fit the Volt either.
Tesla uses the same plug and port for AC Level 2 "Destination" charging and for DC fast "supercharging". The Teslatap and clone products will only work with the destination chargers, which do exist but are far fewer in number than superchargers. I have owned a Volt for 10+ years and never bought a Tesla tap, it just wasn't worth it. You probably want to sell yours.
What apps you might need to unlock level 2 charging stations depends on where in the country you are. The only one I had / carried for years was ChargePoint's little RFID tag. Most of their stations lock the handle until either phone+app or RFID tag are used to physically release the handle for you to use.
Many other Level 2 stations are non-networked, not locked, and do not bill the user for the tiny amount of electricity the Volt can take on in an hour or two.
Get the PlugShare app to find J1772 stations near you or your destinations. If you keep the Teslatap, you can also filter in Tesla (but not "Tesla (fast)" aka superchargers) in PlugShare as well.
But as others have said, charge at home all the time, charge on the road if convenient to what you are already doing, otherwise use a little gas and don't worry about it.
The "at Walmart" stations you're referring to I assume are Electricity America stations, which have CCS and possibly Chademo plugs. The top half of the CCS plug is designed to mate with the J1772, but it's only used for communication, not power. The Volt cannot physically accept the lower two pins of CCS, so will never mate or take power from CCS dispensers. Chademo (the blue ones), doesn't fit the Volt either.
Tesla uses the same plug and port for AC Level 2 "Destination" charging and for DC fast "supercharging". The Teslatap and clone products will only work with the destination chargers, which do exist but are far fewer in number than superchargers. I have owned a Volt for 10+ years and never bought a Tesla tap, it just wasn't worth it. You probably want to sell yours.
What apps you might need to unlock level 2 charging stations depends on where in the country you are. The only one I had / carried for years was ChargePoint's little RFID tag. Most of their stations lock the handle until either phone+app or RFID tag are used to physically release the handle for you to use.
Many other Level 2 stations are non-networked, not locked, and do not bill the user for the tiny amount of electricity the Volt can take on in an hour or two.
Get the PlugShare app to find J1772 stations near you or your destinations. If you keep the Teslatap, you can also filter in Tesla (but not "Tesla (fast)" aka superchargers) in PlugShare as well.
But as others have said, charge at home all the time, charge on the road if convenient to what you are already doing, otherwise use a little gas and don't worry about it.
Even the 'free-to-you' (community-paid, or business-paid) public access J1772 locations are likely affiliated with a major provider (e.g.: Charge Point, Electrify America) that will require a 'membership' with that provider in order to activate that outlet. I haven't found it worth even that minimal effort to go online and sign up with any.
Most of my trips are well within the 35-ish mile round-trip battery range of home. For those few, much longer, trips I have no desire to sit for three hours (gen1 Volt, 3.3 kW max charge rate) to charge the battery to drive 45 minutes.
Most of my trips are well within the 35-ish mile round-trip battery range of home. For those few, much longer, trips I have no desire to sit for three hours (gen1 Volt, 3.3 kW max charge rate) to charge the battery to drive 45 minutes.
I do charge at home. My question concerns about using a charging station when on the road. Also, I run the gas engine all the time.As hellsop stated don’t bother with public charging. Just plug in at home overnight on any 120V circuit. The little bit of money you spend on gas is negligible. Plus your ICE needs a good exercise once in a while. If your response is that you don’t have access to home charging, then the question would be why did you buy a Volt?
Most of the ChargePoint L2 stations were free back 10 years when they first installed them. You need the little swipe card to unlock it, which you’ll get when you enroll with them.I do charge at home. My question concerns about using a charging station when on the road. Also, I run the gas engine all the time.
I usually dont use public chargers unless they are free.. but they only charge like 10 miles per hour so i rarely do it. Gas is like $3.20. I'd rather pay $3.20 and get 40 miles of gas than wait an hour to get 10 miles of electric.. but if i'm going to the grocery store anyway i'll plug in and charge (free). Those tesla chargers cost about as much as gas i hear. the local free charging doesn't require any membership. You should download the plugshare ap and read all the discusions about particular stations to find out if they are free and currently working.
supercharging right now is just about on par with gas, yes. however, home charging (especially when paired with solar) is much cheaper. i only supercharge our model 3 on road trips, otherwise i'm always charging at home where it costs me roughly 6c per mile (which goes down to 3-4c per mile when you factor in solar) vs 10c per mile with supercharging (or roughly the same when gas is $4/gal for a 40mpg ICE car).Those tesla chargers cost about as much as gas i hear.
if gas goes back up to $5+ a gallon, then supercharging becomes a much better alternative again.
I agree with the others. It's simply not worth it to charge at public chargers. It costs more than buying gasoline and it's very slow. Charge at home or work and run on gas when the charge runs out. That's why there's an engine in there.I'm new to the Volt family and have questions about charging at a public station (Tesla, charge point, electrify america, etc). How does this work?
Confusion is overcome with knowledge. The Volt charges very slowly to preserve battery life and increase safety, an intentional (12 year old) design. Its main operating criteria is to use the most efficient means available to propel the car. Newer EV's can charge very quickly, although overuse of fastcharging can degrade battery life. Today's customers demand this ability. Keep learning, you are a pioneer.I'm just confused.
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