[anon]

cliffs of this thread that i made are:

-found a "used" '17 with almost 24k miles (its 14 months old though)
-started out at $24k
-haggled back and forth online and got down to $21k
-visited dealer saturday and for them down to $20,500
-im happy as a lark so far!

just a couple things i've noticed so far that maybe someone can answer for me.....

1. when connected to BT i don't hear my phone when texts come through. what am i missing?
2. i've seen older threads so my apologies if its been answered....can i change my default charge to 12amps over 8?
3. what is your level 2 charger of choice for home?
4. is there any way to turn the electronics on without starting the car? (my FFE would be just to push the start button without your foot on the brake)

and last but not least (i couldn't find a definitive answer on GDOTS website)......

5. can i get the AF tag and use the HOV lanes in GA still?!?

 

[jcanoe]

cliffs of this thread that i made are:

-found a "used" '17 with almost 24k miles (its 14 months old though)
-started out at $24k
-haggled back and forth online and got down to $21k
-visited dealer saturday and for them down to $20,500
-im happy as a lark so far!

just a couple things i've noticed so far that maybe someone can answer for me.....

1. when connected to BT i don't hear my phone when texts come through. what am i missing?
2. i've seen older threads so my apologies if its been answered....can i change my default charge to 12amps over 8?
3. what is your level 2 charger of choice for home?
4. is there any way to turn the electronics on without starting the car? (my FFE would be just to push the start button without your foot on the brake)

and last but not least (i couldn't find a definitive answer on GDOTS website)......

5. can i get the AF tag and use the HOV lanes in GA still?!?

1. when connected to BT i don't hear my phone when texts come through. what am i missing? [Connect using USB cable and AA or CarPlay and the Volt will chime when you receive text messages and offer to read them to you.]
2. i've seen older threads so my apologies if its been answered....can i change my default charge to 12amps over 8? [Yes, for Level I 110V/120V charging provided the outlet and circuit is not overloaded. 12 amps is the maximum load for a standard 15 amp circuit so tread cautiously.]
3. what is your level 2 charger of choice for home? [Personally, Clipper Creek LCS-20P with NEMA 14-50 connector.]
4. is there any way to turn the electronics on without starting the car? (my FFE would be just to push the start button without your foot on the brake) [Yes, you can turn on the radio/audio center infotainment system with the driver's door closed just press the center console audio volume control button one time. With the driver's door open press twice. Warning! Do not press the Start button without pressing the brake pedal. If you hold the Start button for 5 seconds the Volt enters diagnostic/maintenance mode and the 12V battery will not be charged by the on board 12V charger. If you leave the Volt this way you will run down the 12V battery and your Volt will need to be jump started. If you accidentally enter maintenance mode just press Start again to cancel. ]
5. No idea.

 

[anon]

Also, do I have to be setup with onstar before I can get the most out of the chevy mylink app? If so, will that show me current status when at the house?

If not, how can I check the charging status while plugged in at my house?

 

[jcanoe]

Also, do I have to be setup with onstar before I can get the most out of the chevy mylink app? If so, will that show me. Barging status when at the house?

If not, how can I check the charging status while plugged in at my house?

Yes, to get the most out of the MyChevrolet App I believe you will need an OnStar account.

A quick way to assess the state of charge of the Volt battery is to count the number of times the green charging indicator on the dashboard blinks before repeating the series of blinks:

1 blink: 0 - 25% charged
2 blinks 26 - 50 % charged
3 blinks 51 - 75 % charged
4 blinks 76 - 99 % charged
solid green = 100% charged

 

[Sheldon]

2. i've seen older threads so my apologies if its been answered....can i change my default charge to 12amps over 8?
3. what is your level 2 charger of choice for home?
....

Yes, you'll need to use Location Based Charging. Otherwise you will need to override it from 8amps to 12amps everytime. Location based charging lets you default to 12amps at your home location.

The least expensive Clipper Creek LCS-20 charges up in 4 hours 30min; [email protected], but there is an Etsy Volt Level 2 Charge Adapter, that will charge in 5 hours 40min using the OEM charger, [email protected] http://gm-volt.com/forum/showthread.php?280033-Gen-2-Volt-Tricks

Location Based Charging This feature allows charging
settings to be customized when the vehicle is at home or away from
home. The charge mode and charge level preference will update based
on vehicle location. See “Charge Limit Preference Selection” earlier in
this section.
...
To store a home location:
1. From the Home screen, touch Settings.
2. Touch Vehicle.
3. Touch Energy.
4. Touch Location Based Charging.
5. Touch Set Home Location.
....Expiration
The charge level preference at the home location is stored for up to
90 days. After 90 days, a notification will display on the screen and the
charge level preference will need to be reset for the next 90 days....

 

[anon]

is the 12 amp worth it that much even on a 220?

or what about if im at my folks 40 year old house with shady wiring and need a quick top off. will 12amps burn their house down?!?

 

[TSquare]

is the 12 amp worth it that much even on a 220?

or what about if im at my folks 40 year old house with shady wiring and need a quick top off. will 12amps burn their house down?!?

On 220 it will default to 15 amps. There is no selection when using 220 volts.
You don't NEED to plug into shady wiring, just use gas. If you can plug in away from home, leave it to default to the 8 amp rate. You can set it to automatically switch to 12 amps at home where you should already know the wiring.

 

[Stockholm Volt]

is the 12 amp worth it that much even on a 220?

or what about if im at my folks 40 year old house with shady wiring and need a quick top off. will 12amps burn their house down?!?

How much do you love your parents? lol

I'm with TSquare here. Why risk it? I live in a 40 year old house and I never tried 12A. I had a dedicated 220V 50A line installed for the Volt.

 

[jcanoe]

is the 12 amp worth it that much even on a 220?

or what about if im at my folks 40 year old house with shady wiring and need a quick top off. will 12amps burn their house down?!?

There is no such thing as a quick top off with a Level I EVSE 120V at 8 or 12 amps. Charging at Level I just takes a long time. What you can do is locate the electrical panel, identify the 15 or 20 amp circuit that goes to the garage and figure out what else is plugged in. If the outlet in the garage is old, worn out, loose it is easily replaced by you or an electrician. If there are no other high power devices, appliances, tools, pumps etc. plugged into and using the circuit in the garage you may be able to use the 12 amp setting. It is not that you will overload it but the wiring will get warmer than at 8 amps and over time this will shorten the life of the wiring. Remember, this is not like a toaster that runs for under 10 minutes, the Volt will require 12 amps continuously for as long as 13 - 14 hours for a full charge (19 hours at 8 amps for the same charge.)

If the electrical panel is located in the garage an electrician can tell you if the panel has capacity for another circuit and can easily run the wiring for a 240V dedicated circuit for the Volt. People on the forum will recommend you get a 50 amp 240V circuit installed but your existing electrical service and panel may not be able to support another 50 amps but you may be able to add a 240V 20 or 30 amp circuit, a 240V 20 amp circuit is all that is needed for the Volt to fully charge at Level II in 4.5 hours.

 

[ackattacker]

is the 12 amp worth it that much even on a 220?

or what about if im at my folks 40 year old house with shady wiring and need a quick top off. will 12amps burn their house down?!?

Probably not. But there is a reason it defaults to 8 amps, and that reason is that 12 amps *could* be a problem with shady wiring. Just because a house is 40 years old doesn't mean the wiring is shady though. What you are supposed to do, is have an electrician or at least person knowledgeable about electrical wiring inspect the wiring and outlet. If the outlet and wiring is in good shape, and nothing else is sharing the same circuit, then 12 amps should be fine. Plug the charger directly into the outlet without an extension cord, and if the outlet overheats, the charge cord will sense it and shut down. If you don't know, better to just leave it at 8 amps and not risk it.

 

[anon]

I was mainly be facetious about charging at their house mainly cause they do have old ass wiring. No flip style breakers, still the old screw in type!

But good to know the 8/12 doesn't matter On a 220.

 

[anon]

The least expensive Clipper Creek LCS-20 charges up in 4 hours 30min; [email protected], but there is an Etsy Volt Level 2 Charge Adapter, that will charge in 5 hours 40min using the OEM charger, [email protected] http://gm-volt.com/forum/showthread.php?280033-Gen-2-Volt-Tricks

wait, so the basic wall plug that came with the car....i can use that with his ~$60 adapter and it turns it into an l2 and it is just as good as a $300 one? i glanced at the 79 pages, but is any disassembly required for it?

 

[Sheldon]

wait, so the basic wall plug that came with the car....i can use that with his ~$60 adapter and it turns it into an l2 and it is just as good as a $300 one? i glanced at the 79 pages, but is any disassembly required for it?

There is no assembly. The ChrisTx OEM 240v plug adapter changes the OEM charger that came with the car to 240v 12amps. So that's 2.88kw, or 9.5 miles/hour instead of 12miles/hour with the 3.6kw charger, which is as fast as the gen2 will go. You will need a 240v outlet though. Then the ChrisTx adapter plugs into the 240v outlet, and has what looks like a normal 120v outlet at the other end. That is what you plug the Volt's OEM adapter into! Don't plug anything else into it, because its 240v, not 120v.

 

[jcanoe]

wait, so the basic wall plug that came with the car....i can use that with his ~$60 adapter and it turns it into an l2 and it is just as good as a $300 one? i glanced at the 79 pages, but is any disassembly required for it?

Yes, except you would be limited to 240V/12 amps instead of 240V/16 amps, so charging will take a little longer than the 4.5 hrs charging at 16 amps takes. You would still need a 240V dedicated circuit and outlet installed. The 240V circuit is most of the cost of putting in a Level II charging capability.

 

[Insight Refugee]

Most of your questions have been answered (I'll co-sign the recommendations for the ChrisTX adapter). On the text messages, what phone are you using? My iPhone provides notifications and then reads the text to me without plugging in, i.e., all through BlueTooth.

As I recall, I needed change one setting somewhere to get this to work ... I think it was Settings -> Bluetooth -> Chevrolet MyLink (i) and then toggle on "Show Notifications".

 

[anon]

wait, so the basic wall plug that came with the car....i can use that with his ~$60 adapter and it turns it into an l2 and it is just as good as a $300 one? i glanced at the 79 pages, but is any disassembly required for it?

There is no assembly. The ChrisTx OEM 240v plug adapter changes the OEM charger that came with the car to 240v 12amps. So that's 2.88kw, or 9.5 miles/hour instead of 12miles/hour with the 3.6kw charger, which is as fast as the gen2 will go. You will need a 240v outlet though. Then the ChrisTx adapter plugs into the 240v outlet, and has what looks like a normal 120v outlet at the other end. That is what you plug the Volt's OEM adapter into! Don't plug anything else into it, because its 240v, not 120v.

Pardon my ignorance since I'm no electrician.....but the end of the plug is currently a basic 3 prong wall outlet plug. Are you saying that I plug the 3 prong into the adapter which would then be plugged into my newly installed 240 outlet and it will work at 240v?!?

 

[jcanoe]

Pardon my ignorance since I'm no electrician.....but the end of the plug is currently a basic 3 prong wall outlet plug. Are you saying that I plug the 3 prong into the adapter which would then be plugged into my newly installed 240 outlet and it will work at 240v?!?

Yes. There is no immediate danger since your Volt's EVSE will automatically detect that there is 120V present on what is by code supposed to be the neutral blade socket (the thicker blade). The way you get 240V is this is the voltage when measured across the two hot leads of a 240V outlet. The danger is that someday someone will plug a piece of standard 120V equipment into the 240V outlet thinking the adapter cable is there to provide standard 120V power on the hot blade socket and a neutral connection on the neutral blade socket and someone could be electrocuted or it could start an electrical fire. You could have a warning label on the adapter cable and it won't matter. People don't always read labels and can't be expected to understand the risk of non-standard electrical wiring.

 

[ackattacker]

Pardon my ignorance since I'm no electrician.....but the end of the plug is currently a basic 3 prong wall outlet plug. Are you saying that I plug the 3 prong into the adapter which would then be plugged into my newly installed 240 outlet and it will work at 240v?!?

Read the thread about it here:

http://gm-volt.com/forum/showthread.php?218442-2016-Volt-120v-EVSE-is-L1-L2-Conversion-Capable

You will get some strong opinions on whether the adapter is unwise. It is safe to use for this purpose, but it does NOT meet electrical code because, as mentioned, it basically puts 240V on a 120V outlet which someone might plug into unwittingly.

Another option is to cut the end off and wire a 240V plug onto the EVSE. Then you need a reverse adapter to use it with a 120V outlet.

 

[anon]

Bear with me here.....the adapter that plugs on to my current 3 prong stock charger.....is it also a typical 3 prong (the pic on his etsy doesn't clearly show it)?

either way I assume I will still need that outlet wired for 240. Just checking to see if a new outlet is needed (i.e dryer outlet).

 

[Insight Refugee]

Bear with me here.....the adapter that plugs on to my current 3 prong stock charger.....is it also a typical 3 prong (the pic on his etsy doesn't clearly show it)?

either way I assume I will still need that outlet wired for 240. Just checking to see if a new outlet is needed (i.e dryer outlet).

Yep. If you don't have a spare 240 (I had an unused dryer outlet in the garage), then you'll need to have one installed. That's the case regardless if you use the ChrisTX adapter or purchase a dedicated charger.