[ajben]

I have a ClipperCreek 16 amp 240v which I use for my Chevy volt. I’m thinking about buying a Bolt.
How long will a Bolt take to charge with my CC 16 amp?
I am just wondering if it is worth the cost of a new unit and install.
Thanks

 

[Synovialbasher]

About 16 hours to fully refill.

https://www.clippercreek.com/wp-con...me-to-Charge-Chart-20180615_FINAL_LOW-RES.jpg

This chart is useful to compare different size chargers.

 

[ctiomico2003]

To give you a better cost analysis we would need more information.

I currently have a ClipperCreek 16 AMP and I use it to top off my Model S along with my Volts. My avg daily commute is 80 miles/day and I can charge enough at night to get back that range. Weekends are trickier since we can do 100 - 200 miles, but that is what the Superchargers are for if needed.

So you can break it down from a:
*Convenience standpoint - yes, get the larger one
*Cost Value - Figure out how much to purchase/install maybe minus selling price of the unit, figure out how long until payback. Also, how does TOU play into this (if available)?
*Test out phase - If your commute is not that long, try it with the 16 amp for a while. If it doesn't work, then supplement until you can install the 32+amp ClipperCreek.
*Going from 1 PHEV/BEV to 2 - Maybe get a device capable of splitting the charge between two cars overnight (Juicebox has one I think)

Just remember your Volt only takes 3.3kW so having the higher one has zero effect on it.

There are always a lot of considerations.

Day to day, 16 amps is fine.

 

[jcanoe]

I have a ClipperCreek 16 amp 240v which I use for my Chevy volt. I’m thinking about buying a Bolt.
How long will a Bolt take to charge with my CC 16 amp?
I am just wondering if it is worth the cost of a new unit and install.
Thanks

Depending on how far you drive day to day it may not be worth the expense of upgrading your 240V circuit and buying a new EVSE. If you basically can recharge your Volt in 3-4 hours today and don't use any gas on your daily commute then you would be able to charge a Bolt in the same 3-4 hours using your current 16 amp charging setup. When you happen to travel longer distance than your usual commute it will take longer to recharge; even if it takes 19 hours to fully recharge the Bolt's battery using a 240V/16 amp charging setup you can complete the recharging of the Bolt's battery in two or three shorter sessions over a day or so rather than one long charging session.

 

[Don M]

In actual day to day use, you will very seldom ever need to charge it from empty to full, so I predict it will work just fine for you

The battery won't often get to empty, and if it does and it's not full the next morning, you probably won't need a full battery to get where you're going that day. Once in a blue moon, it may turn out to be a bit inconvenient that you can't charge it faster, but you may go years before you see that in actual use

Don

 

[Synovialbasher]

For some reason I cannot reply to your post. It states “This page is asking you to confirm that you want to leave”.
I get this message whether I reply to the post or reply to you directly.

Anyway thx for your reply. I wonder how long it would take for 80% charge.

ctiomico2003 is right. There's a lot more to it than just that. I got your PM about not being able to post, but I figured I'd answer your question here.

For an 80% charge, you're looking at refilling 80% of the 60 kwh battery (I know there are battery buffers as well, this is a rougher estimate), or about 48 kwh. 48 KWH divided by the 3.8KW charge rate is approximately 12.5 hours. I use such a rough number because there are a lot of factors that can influence the charge time up to 80%, with battery temperature management being the primary one. Heating the battery will draw a good chunk of whatever power you're trying to put in the battery to begin with.

I agree with ctiomico2003 and Don. The existing 3.8kw charger is probably perfect for a daily commute.

Also, I believe clipper creek has a charger that splits the available power as well.

 

[ajben]

Thanks for all the replies. I hardly use gas in my Volt and only need to visit the gas station around every 10 months, so maybe keeping the one I already have will be better.

 

[FI Spyder]

Thanks for all the replies. I hardly use gas in my Volt and only need to visit the gas station around every 10 months, so maybe keeping the one I already have will be better.

It'll probably do fine. No point in being able charge in 4 hours if you got 12 hours to do it in.

 

[JRRF]

So long as you don't drive several hundred miles per day, you don't need a bigger charger at home. That's the long and short of it.

 

[Ladogaboy]

Most of the time, I leave my Bolt EV in Hilltop Reserve Mode, which stops charging when the battery hits 88%. The 2019 Bolt EVs have a control feature that allows you to choose your maximum battery charge level in 5% increments from 40% up to 100%. For daily driving, unless you need the range, I'd recommend keeping your battery set to a maximum of 70% to 80%. If you never dip down below 20% with those settings, a 16 A EVSE will recharge the Bolt EV to "full" in a night.

Short answer is, as a Bolt EV owner, I wouldn't upgrade to a 32 A if I already had a 16 A installed.

 

[Fourdoor]

If you live in a cold climate and want to pre-condition the Bolt and still have a full charge, the 32 amp EVSE can do the trick. I upgraded from my 16 amp because of my weekend usage where it is not uncommon for me to do 150+ miles in a day, and then want to do it again the next day. If you don't plan on using the bolt that hard (I have over 22,000 miles in 6 months, one 1000+ mile round trip road trip and two 2000+ mile round trip road trips.) you will probably be fine with the 16 amp.

Keith

 

[marcusm]

So long as you don't drive several hundred miles per day, you don't need a bigger charger at home. That's the long and short of it.

Yes. And as suggested above, your battery longevity will also be improved by only charging up to 75% or so. That keeps a good buffer to protect it. (This is the way the Volt battery pack is designed). You don’t need all that range every day for commuting. If I had a Bolt I would only use the full range very occasionally only if on a longer trip.


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[jcanoe]

Depending your daily driving distances the 16 amp Level 2 charger is probably adequate for charging the Bolt. If the 16 amp charger currently meets your charging needs for the Volt, unless you also burn much more than 1 gallon of fuel in your Volt on your daily commute then you will be able to complete a recharge of the Bolt's battery within 8 or 9 hours. 9 hours of charging at 16 amps would be able to recover ~ 12 miles x 9 hours = 96 miles of EV range. Do you drive more than 100 miles per day?

For those times when you may not be able to fully recharge your Bolt's battery by the next time you need to drive the Bolt, unless this new excursion is a long distance trip you would able to finish fully recharging the Bolt the next day/night.

I precondition my 2017 Volt while plugged in to a 16 am Level 2 EVSE. Usually the Volt's battery charge is back to 100% SOC by the time the preconditioning cycle ends. Worst case, I see a 0.6 - 1.2kW battery SOC deficit after a 20 minute preconditioning period in the coldest temperatures inside my garage (15F/-9.5C). 1.2kWh is an insignificant percentage of the Bolt's total battery capacity. The Volt's electric heating unit maximum draw is 9kW (typically draws up to 6 - 7 kW.) I believe the Bolt's electric cabin heating unit has a similar power rating.

 

[hellsop]

Yes. And as suggested above, your battery longevity will also be improved by only charging up to 75% or so. That keeps a good buffer to protect it. (This is the way the Volt battery pack is designed). You don’t need all that range every day for commuting. If I had a Bolt I would only use the full range very occasionally only if on a longer trip.

Turning on Hilltop Reserve is plenty to keep the battery out of the straining zone. I'd be unsurprised to hear that many, many people who do not live on hills use Hilltop Reserve as a matter of course.

 

[marcusm]

Turning on Hilltop Reserve is plenty to keep the battery out of the straining zone. I'd be unsurprised to hear that many, many people who do not live on hills use Hilltop Reserve as a matter of course.

I guess that hilltop charges to 88%? Although I’m sure it’s unnecessary I’m anal about these things so I’d be a bit more conservative than that if I had a Bolt with the range it has. With the Volt I always charge to 100% but since it has a pretty conservative buffer built in, that’s Ok.


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