[TheNamelessPoet]

Hey everyone! You can just call me TNP for short if you want since some think my name is too long in the interweb world lol.

I just picked up my new 2017 Volt in Kinetic Blue and it might be the most beautiful thing I've ever purchased

My boss is letting me plug it in at work so I'm driving back and forth pretty much for free every day! I've got to do some research on our building to see what amp the plug and wiring is but for now I'm charging on the 8 amp which stinks since it won't fully charge in 9 hours :-( but at least it's still mostly free driving!

I went in to buy a Cruz and didn't like the ride. My wife has a 2016 Malibu so I dejectedly resigned to a 2017... until they told me the price difference on leasing both. $98 a month because of state rebates.

So now I have a pretty blue car



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[firehawk72]

Welcome, and enjoy your new ride. Using 8 amps now to be safe is a good choice. Once you get the line and voltage figured out, move on up to 12amps. The main thing is just to make sure the line is for your Volt only. If so, 12 amps is probably fine after you check the plug and connections. If anything else is on the line, just keep it at 8 amps unless it is a 20 amp circuit then simply see what else is on it. Enjoy the Volt. It is amazing.

 

[llninja]

Or spring for a 240v circuit and buy the pigtail from ChrisTX on this forum so you can charge in 4-5 hours. The joy of being able to take a long drive across town for lunch and not feel like you are wasting Dino juice is priceless.

 

[TheNamelessPoet]

Thanks guys I'm excited. It's only been 2 trips to work and 1 to pick up the baby... but u haven't used a drop of gas yet

I am curious about the DC fast charge stations tho. I have only come across info on the 1gen Volts which says not to use.

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[Nebula]

DC fast charging plugs have 2 extra prongs, noticeable on the charger/plug.

240v lvl 2 is what ya want for fast charging on the volt.

btw welcome to the forums!

 

[TheNamelessPoet]

DC fast charging plugs have 2 extra prongs, noticeable on the charger/plug.

240v lvl 2 is what ya want for fast charging on the volt.

Rats, I was hoping to top off at a local place I frequent. And see if there is somewhere on my semiannual 400+mile trips that I could eat at

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[hellsop]

Rats, I was hoping to top off at a local place I frequent. And see if there is somewhere on my semiannual 400+mile trips that I could eat at

Even if the Volt did fast charge, it would probably take basically a half hour to add 50 miles, and the OTHER 300 miles of the trip you'd be burning the same number of gas stops anyway. No time saved, minimal $$ saved, and you'd probably make up the extra 3 gallons just NOT driving the Malibu.

 

[Nebula]

2 recommended apps to get for your phone

Chargepoint and plugshare.

These will show near by charging stations you can use.

 

[TheNamelessPoet]

2 recommended apps to get for your phone

Chargepoint and plugshare.

These will show near by charging stations you can use.

I'll download now thanks!!! Plugshare I already found, but the more the better!

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[TSquare]

I'll download now thanks!!! Plugshare I already found, but the more the better!

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You will probably find, sooner or later, that opportunity charging a Volt is mostly a waste of time and/or money. I have taken my Volt on several vacation trips (1400 miles round trip) in the last 5 years and have never found a need to plug it in while on my vacation. Just not enough gain for the hassle of finding a convenient plug and digging out the EVSE. Even at my destination where my Volt sat, unplugged in the middle of a large parking lot for 8 - 10 days without moving.

 

[BillG]

You will probably find, sooner or later, that opportunity charging a Volt is mostly a waste of time and/or money. I have taken my Volt on several vacation trips (1400 miles round trip) in the last 5 years and have never found a need to plug it in while on my vacation. Just not enough gain for the hassle of finding a convenient plug and digging out the EVSE. Even at my destination where my Volt sat, unplugged in the middle of a large parking lot for 8 - 10 days without moving.

^ What he said! Just drive it.

By the way, OP, none of your posts rhyme.

 

[canehdian]

Yeah, save your time looking for public stations, unless they're free and you were going to be parked there anyway.

1. GM in their infinite wisdom thinks no one would ever need more than 3.x kW charging (cue the quote about 512kb memory...)
so you're instantly crippled to half of what most public charging stations can putout meaning you either get half the power you could have in most other cars, or you stay twice as long to get a charge

2. Ones that charge $ to use typically cost much more than the cost of equivalent gas.

Usually better off to just burn gas.
Your first year or so you'll probably enjoy playing the game of 'how far can I go without using gas', but eventually you'll give in and just drive.

Enjoy your new ride.

 

[hellsop]

Usually better off to just burn gas.
Your first year or so you'll probably enjoy playing the game of 'how far can I go without using gas', but eventually you'll give in and just drive.

Concur. There are many many many changes you can make to your habits that will make very small improvements in range and efficiency, and pretty much the only one that's worth bothering with is "easy does it". Drive a little slower, speed up a little slower, slow down a little slower. Maybe pump up your tires a little over the recommended pressure, but that's only worthwhile because it's almost a "do it and done" fix that doesn't require any real change in operation. EVERYTHING else you can do, whether it's adjusting the climate control, trying to time the use of Hold mode, replacing headlamps with LED ones, turning down the stereo so the amp doesn't use as much, all of that's already been engineered really well and you'll be making yourself obsessive about numbers or sweaty not using AC for an extra hundred yards of range.

 

[llninja]

Concur. There are many many many changes you can make to your habits that will make very small improvements in range and efficiency, and pretty much the only one that's worth bothering with is "easy does it". Drive a little slower, speed up a little slower, slow down a little slower. Maybe pump up your tires a little over the recommended pressure, but that's only worthwhile because it's almost a "do it and done" fix that doesn't require any real change in operation. EVERYTHING else you can do, whether it's adjusting the climate control, trying to time the use of Hold mode, replacing headlamps with LED ones, turning down the stereo so the amp doesn't use as much, all of that's already been engineered really well and you'll be making yourself obsessive about numbers or sweaty not using AC for an extra hundred yards of range.

Or do like I did, hypermile for the first couple years, then do a Jekyll and Hyde and start driving like Jeff Gordon. It's a whole lot of fun, plus I'm still getting 70 mpg lifetime, better than any other hybrid out there.