[ZaRocks]

Hey everyone! Just wanted to say hi for the first time now that I'm a proud owner of a 2013 Volt from the Cleveland area. My biggest requirement was that it had leather heated seats, everything else was gravy. Took one on a test drive last Friday and loved everything about it, was able to take it home for $11k OTD. It has a little over 75k miles, but reading on how reliable these cars have been, that did not worry me too much.

Wanted to thank everyone here on the forums for aiding me in my research leading up to the purchase, I knew very little about the Volt a week ago and was really impressed by everyone's stories and experiences.

Tested the battery range today, I got 43.6 miles on 40 degree weather with a good mix of city and highway driving. Pretty happy with that!

One issue I'm having is that I'm having trouble charging at 12 amps...the green light goes out usually within a half hour and reports "unable to charge". Tried a different circuit and the same issue occurs. 8 amp charging seems to work fine. Just wondering if it's an issue with the house/garage wiring or the EVSE itself.

Also curious as to whether or not you folks use charging stations or find it practical to do so. And if so, if there are any apps to recommend (I already downloaded SemaConnect for the parking garage I frequent most).

 

[freshcut]

Congrats on the purchase. I felt similar when I bought my '13 last year with almost 93K on the clock. about 20K since and still going strong.

Not sure what I can recommend about the L1 at 12A. I never saw that occur when I charged with the OEM cable as it always fully charged at 8 or 12 without any error messages. Usually unable to charge messages are related to the communication between the vehicles onboard charger and the EVSE, so perhaps cleaning the contact pins might help. As for charging away from home, I've only done so a couple times and use the chargepoint app to locate charging stations. Some are free, others cost. It's easy to get a chargepoint card sent to you and it's kind of a prepaid deal. The first time you use it they will debit your linked account (credit card or checking account) $25. I did it just so I had funds available if I ever need it. There are also other apps you can find. I'd just suggest searching for EV charger which should give a number of options. Some of the apps even include locations for accessible outlets that are EV friendly to use your EVSE with.

 

[jcanoe]

Hey everyone! Just wanted to say hi for the first time now that I'm a proud owner of a 2013 Volt from the Cleveland area. My biggest requirement was that it had leather heated seats, everything else was gravy. Took one on a test drive last Friday and loved everything about it, was able to take it home for $11k OTD. It has a little over 75k miles, but reading on how reliable these cars have been, that did not worry me too much.

Wanted to thank everyone here on the forums for aiding me in my research leading up to the purchase, I knew very little about the Volt a week ago and was really impressed by everyone's stories and experiences.

Tested the battery range today, I got 43.6 miles on 40 degree weather with a good mix of city and highway driving. Pretty happy with that!

One issue I'm having is that I'm having trouble charging at 12 amps...the green light goes out usually within a half hour and reports "unable to charge". Tried a different circuit and the same issue occurs. 8 amp charging seems to work fine. Just wondering if it's an issue with the house/garage wiring or the EVSE itself.

Also curious as to whether or not you folks use charging stations or find it practical to do so. And if so, if there are any apps to recommend (I already downloaded SemaConnect for the parking garage I frequent most).

Try replacing the 120V outlet that you use with the EVSE with a new good quality outlet. You need to ensure that the plug fits tight, a worn out receptacle will not allow a good connection to be made. This will increase resistance at the plug and could cause overheating. The EVSE has a thermal sensor so that may be what is causing your EVSE to shut down at 12A but still work at 8A. If you try two old worn out and loose fitting outlets in your home the result may be the same, the EVSE stops working when the thermal sensor detects excessive heat.

 

[BAZINGA]

Try a truly different outlet, by that I mean ask a neighbor if you can bring your car over to his garage and plug in (of course ask if there is anything else on that line like a beer fridge etc).

If the EVSE is faulty you may to buy a new one. But at that point I'd spring for a Level II EVSE and have a 220V/30amp line installed. My Clipper Creek LCS-25 has been happily charging my Volt's at over 11mph for over 4 years now. They are bullet proof and made in the USA.

 

[KUD]

Welcome from a fellow MY13 owner. I had mine since new and am just under 70K miles so I guess I will be owning it for a long time. Actually truth be told my wife will own it a long time as she stole it from me a few years ago.
Down load Plugshare. It is the best as it covers all the providers.

 

[TheBlueFlash]

Most likely it is your wall outlet/circuit. Like others have said, try another outlet somewhere else to test it.

Btw, ask the dealer you bought it from if they did a flush and fill of the coolant system. Most likely they didn't, so check the glove box and see if there is any paperwork that proves it was done. If you can't find anything, then assume it wasn't done. If your 2013 has a build date in 2012 (check the sticker inside the door frame) then you are due for that service 5yrs/100k miles. With a harsh Cleveland winter coming up I wouldn't push it off very long. FYI it is a $300+ required service because the Volt has three coolant reservoirs and all three have to be flushed and refilled.

 

[ZaRocks]

If your 2013 has a build date in 2012 (check the sticker inside the door frame) then you are due for that service 5yrs/100k miles.

Ok, really good to know. No documentation anywhere, For some reason I don't see the build date anywhere but judging by the serial (34108) it was a later year build, and original purchase wasn't until mid-2014.

 

[hellsop]

One issue I'm having is that I'm having trouble charging at 12 amps...the green light goes out usually within a half hour and reports "unable to charge". Tried a different circuit and the same issue occurs. 8 amp charging seems to work fine. Just wondering if it's an issue with the house/garage wiring or the EVSE itself.

Very likely the wiring. Very unlikely the EVSE. Either live with 8 amps or consider having professionals investigate and if that becomes something you'll consider, a fresh new 240v circuit and a new EVSE to match absolutely will solve your problem.

Also curious as to whether or not you folks use charging stations or find it practical to do so. And if so, if there are any apps to recommend (I already downloaded SemaConnect for the parking garage I frequent most).

I usually don't bother with charging a-field. It's slow, most of the chargers that cost are timed instead of metered, so it ends up being so much more expensive than just burning the pint of gas or so that charging would replace. An included charger at a hotel I'm staying at is a different story because there's time to actually get a full charge, and if I'm at a hotel, I'm obviously not getting home that night anyway.

 

[Coppersnowboarder]

ChargePoint Station is my only source of electric power for my 2013 Volt Premium. My 20-mile daily commute takes about 2 hours of charging or about 7 KwH.

 

[Fred_B]

Congratulations on your $11K Volt! I paid a bit more for my 2013, since I bought it new.

If you can charge at home in a garage, you may not use the commercial charging stations very much. I find 95% of my driving is within the daily battery range and I charge overnight when I get home. I have a Clipper Creek L2 EVSE in the garage. For those times where I exceed the range in a day, I just let it burn gas once the battery is exhausted. I usually carry about 100 miles of gas in the tank to cover days like this. Of course if I am going on a long trip I will fill it up and drive hold mode once I get on the freeway. I end up using 1 gallon of premium gas a month for my everyday driving. Can't beat that unless you get a current model and use 1 gallon of regular gas per month!

 

[wizard_of-ahs]

Try a truly different outlet, by that I mean ask a neighbor if you can bring your car over to his garage and plug in (of course ask if there is anything else on that line like a beer fridge etc).

If the EVSE is faulty you may to buy a new one. But at that point I'd spring for a Level II EVSE and have a 220V/30amp line installed. My Clipper Creek LCS-25 has been happily charging my Volt's at over 11mph for over 4 years now. They are bullet proof and made in the USA.

Congrats on your new ride

IF you are upgrading to a level 2 charger.........only need a 20 amp circuit since the Volt will only charge at 16 amps.....IF you plan on upgrading vehicles in the future, THEN maybe you want a 40 or 50 amp circuit, but for the Volt, the 20 amp will suffice.

 

[Bernielah]

Welcome from a fellow MY13 owner. I had mine since new and am just under 70K miles so I guess I will be owning it for a long time. Actually truth be told my wife will own it a long time as she stole it from me a few years ago.
Down load Plugshare. It is the best as it covers all the providers.

+1 on Plugshare. And mine is also rapidly migrating to my wife. (Oh well just have to keep researching for another one )
Mine has no trouble charging at 12A. AFAIK there is a temp sensor in the plug with the supplied charger and it should be easy to identify an overheated plug with the back of a finger.

 

[ZaRocks]

AFAIK there is a temp sensor in the plug with the supplied charger and it should be easy to identify an overheated plug with the back of a finger.

I'll try this tonight to see what happens. It actually did charge completely on 12A 2 nights ago but failed last night. Probably gonna live with 8A for now, will consider upgrading to 240V service if charging speed becomes an issue...

 

[Guest]

You should/could use the 8 amp charging on any outlet, 12 amp should be done on a dedicated 15 amp circuit. My 2013 came with an American made $200 level 2 charger so am using the 240 volt circuit for my air compressor (sharzies). Everything seems to work fine. I am going to put in a 20 amp double pole switch so I can turn off the electricity to the charger if it's not being used. I do my own electrical work. For the outlet it may be worth putting in a heavy duty outlet sometimes called a commercial or hospital outlet. More expensive than your $1 outlet but built more robustly. The reason for the switch is our BC Hydro recommends putting all chargers on a switch box that you can turn off as even though they aren't charging anything they are still drawing power. Don't know what the payback time is for a 20 amp double pole switch but protecting the charger from any power problems may be worth it in the long run. I remember years back when I was fixing computers, a customer had a tree blown onto power line and it took out her washer, fridge and her surge suppressor for the computer was a blackened mess. Computers were Ok though.