[mollyparker]

I'm curious -- the 2019s have the faster L2 charging option. Most Volt owners seem to stick with L1 charging in their garages.

How often does (or would) the faster charging make a difference in your life? As my squeeze lives 60 miles away, for me it makes a difference if we meet for dinner and then head home... meaning sometimes but certainly not every day.

Is this going to be a big draw for folks? What do you think?

 

[Steverino]

I charge my 2011 Volt and my 2017 Bolt (7.2 kWh capable), on a 240V EVSE set for the Volt's lowly 3 kWh capability, so no doesn't matter for me. But maybe you'd enjoy fully charging the Gen 2 Volt in about 2 hours. Winter pre-conditioning would be a nice bonus.

 

[Eagleco]

The fast majority of the time, it would mean charging is completed by midnight while we are asleep vs charging is completed by 2:30 am while we are still asleep.

That's only if I spent the money to upgrade our electrical system to accommodate faster charging. No cheap feat, since it would involve running 85' of heavier gauge underground cable from our house to our garage. Plus we only have 100 amp service, so a 40 amp circuit just for the car might be a bit much.

There would be rare occasions where the faster rate would come in handy for midday charges at public charge stations, but not very often. Maybe the faster rate would save us at most one tank of gas per year, but I doubt even that much.

That being said, if I were in the market for a 2019 Volt, I would get one with the faster charging rate.



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[tonymcpa]

I picked up my 2019 Premier over the weekend - and like what most have said, the faster charging is nice, but since most of charging is done overnight, it's not a big deal.

However, running around over the weekend running errands, having that quicker charge to replenish miles quickly was very convenient as I can come back home and get back on the road with a full battery quicker - and it helps that I already had a JuiceBox at home for my BMW i3.

So....if you don't see yourself running in-and-out of the house constantly and/or if you don't already have something capable of charging at 7.2, the faster charger is great, but not a deal-killer.

 

[obermd]

Most of the time the 120V 12amp charging I do at home is sufficient. However, for those rare times where L2 charging would keep me from burning gas having the 7.2KWh charger would make a difference to me.

 

[Tomt]

It makes no real difference to me...

How often does (or would) the faster charging make a difference in your life? As my squeeze lives 60 miles away, for me it makes a difference if we meet for dinner and then head home... meaning sometimes but certainly not every day.

 

[voldar]

We wanted to have the 7.2 kWh fast charge capability since the day one, so GM finally did it !
To answer your question, yes, it does matter. Before, when I had lunch or dinner, I didn't plug my Volt in the L2 available around, because the time for a recharge to really matter just wasn't enough. Now, with the new L2 charge capability, it does. Having 6 months of freezing temps a year, I am more than happy to have access to a fast charge capability. BTW, I just traded in my 2014 for a 2019 which I am going to get this week. Can't wait to have it !

 

[lagagnon]

How often does (or would) the faster charging make a difference in your life?

Never, for us. My wife and I are both retired, do not commute and only drive about 12,000km per year. In the 15 months of owning the car we have never had the situation required where an extra two hours of less charging would make any difference whatsoever to us.

People are always attracted to newer technology and I think the larger charger will attract those who put many more miles per year on their vehicle and are constantly hopping in and out of it...

 

[tharvey57]

It makes a big difference for me. I drive 20-30K per year, I usually can get one way on battery and even easily find a quick charger but unless I want to wait over 4 hours for a charge I am always leaving no more then 1/2 full of charge. At 7.2 kw/h I would nearly be fully charged, this would be for shopping, crossing the border everything.

 

[Barry]

You have to look at your own driving habits. If you have only rare opportunities or needs to charge away from home, and at home you mostly charge for periods longer than 4 hours such as overnight (this describes me and many others), then it will make no difference. On the other hand if you consume your battery charge every day and have opportunities to top up on L2 charge stations, it could be a big help. Also, paying for public charging is rarely economical at the lower Amp levels because you don't get your money's worth if it is billed by time.

 

[FI Spyder]

It would make a difference for me 11 times out of the year (maybe).

 

[wws]

Faster charging is especially important for those who could, or do, take advantage of workplace and other public charging. Lower costs at locations that charge by time, and allows quicker vacation of the spot so that others can use it sooner. My wife charges our Volt every day at work - so it would have made a huge difference for us. (That is, up until a couple months ago. Her new workplace charges by the kWh.)

 

[darrin]

When I had a garage any my own power source I was fine even on 120V overnight charging most of the time.

Now I live in an apartment and the charging stations here are $1/hr. So apart from the obvious cost benefit of faster charging it would also mean I can charge in the evening without having to go move my car in the middle of the night.

 

[srmarti]

Faster charging would be nice to have. It would allow me to be ready for a second trip would free up some down time.

 

[KenC]

Most Volt owners on this forum have installed L2 chargers. However, they don't have the 7.2kw charger like the 2019s, but the slower L2 charging.

One way to check how much difference it makes would be to look at the Voltstats.net website, and see how many owners drive further than one full charge.



You didn't make it clear, but you could install a NEMA 14-50 outlet at both your home and his, and use the portable EVSE included with your Volt. That way you could charge at both locations.

I'm curious -- the 2019s have the faster L2 charging option. Most Volt owners seem to stick with L1 charging in their garages.

How often does (or would) the faster charging make a difference in your life? As my squeeze lives 60 miles away, for me it makes a difference if we meet for dinner and then head home... meaning sometimes but certainly not every day.

Is this going to be a big draw for folks? What do you think?

 

[summit]

I would definitely want to have the 7.2 kw L2 charge rate, in fact, I would also like to have the option for L3 DC charging; all to maximize e-miles

 

[LANMAN]

I would definitely pay for the faster charging. I wish my Volt charged faster every time I plug into a public charger, and it would eliminate the 10 minute wait when preconditioning in the winter.

 

[JRRF]

Unless you can charge someplace other than home where it's free, then faster charging is of little to no value. That's why you have an ICE.

Secondarily, if you constantly drive to and from your house for multiple 50 mile trips per day, then the faster charging would be valuable even at home.

Otherwise, save your money. The fast charge option on the 2019's was added simply to drive sales. After all, the Volt is otherwise dead.

 

[Lotus54]

I used the 120V charger for a few months before I got around to installing the L2 charger.
The L2 charger is much, much nicer, especially when I take a drive long enough to use much of the battery in the morning- but still have stuff to do in the afternoon. The L2 will bring it back up to quite usable (perhaps even fully charged) levels while the L1 would not at all.
Plus it is a LOT easier to plug it in since I would have to unpack/pack my L1 charger (I park it outside).

The 7.2 charger would be nice sometimes (especially public stations) but probably not a huge deal to me. Certainly if I had waited and got a 2019 instead of 2018 Volt I would have gotten that option.

 

[frmr_pontiac_own]

I did not think the faster charging would matter, but life events happen where it has already proven itself valuable multiple times.

Would it be worth trading a 2017 in for a 2019? No, I don't see that. But a 2019 over a "less expensive" 2018? Yes, I think the few thousand difference would be worth it over life of the car.