Charging Overhead

4473 Views 1 Reply 2 Participants Last post by Koz, Jun 12, 2008

kubel

Discussion Starter · Jun 12, 2008

I have a question relating to charging overhead costs that I asked in the Q&A page, but wasn't answered.

As I understand it, the Volt has a 16kWh battery, but keeps the pack between 30% and 80% charge at all times. Thus, 8kWh are required for the 40-mile all-electric-range. But how many kWh are required for charging in addition to the standard 8kWh needed to charge the pack?

I'm trying to form some simple calculations to determine the estimated cost of ownership of the Volt, and cost-per-charge has been a factor that I haven't quite nailed yet. I know it will be significantly more than 8kWh since the charging process isn't very efficient, but I don't know a realistic figure.

In other words…

Q: How many kWh (overhead) are 'lost' in the charging process?

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Koz

· #2 · Jun 12, 2008

I believe the charger, line losses, battery in, and battery out will be about 15% for either of the 2 battery chemistries being considered so 8KWh will require about 9.4KWh.

LI, especially the 2 versions being evaluated by GM, is very efficient (e.g. a NiMh solution would have about 35% loss).

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