[mrick]

My son has a Tesla so he can do a quick charge. But my volt takes a long time to charge. The point of the volt is one has the extended range provided by the gas engine.

Do volt owners mostly charge at home and forget about trying to track down a public charging station. I have to go to a training tomorrow' and it is cold here. I can get there on battery but I cannot get back. It is about 70 miles round trip for a 2 hour training class. I don't see public charging stations being viable for me.

Other volt owners?

 

[jampers]

I just charge at home at midnight when the electric rates drop to the lowest level. There used to be free chargers at some city government and retail store locations but now it seems they all want $ and it's become expensive. Despite gas prices in San Diego of $3.39+ I use gas whenever my battery power won't complete a journey, or anytime I'm on the freeway at speeds faster than 55-60 MPH. If you use Mountain Mode on your drive home it will save about ten miles of battery power for you and you can switch back to Normal Mode to complete the last 8 miles using battery. Nice smooth transitions too between battery and gas using Mountain Mode.

 

[saghost]

Sometimes public charging is convenient, like in the parking lot of the hotel you're staying in. On those occasions I would use it with a Volt. But if there isn't any that won't make your life harder, don't use it - that's the whole point of the EREV.

 

[Insight Refugee]

In over two years and 24,000 miles, I've used public charging stations less than a dozen times because I actually needed to charge the car.

There is one garage near a building where I have meetings that has EV parking on the first floor near the exit that I'll use more for the convenience than the need to charge (if the EV parking space was inconvenient, I wouldn't use it). Same thing at Orlando International Airport when I go to pick up my wife.

In both cases there are more EV spaces than cars using them, so I don't feel bad taking the space for a short time.

At the end of the day, EV infrastructure in Florida is currently pretty bad and unless I happen to know where the charging stations are at the end of long trip (e.g., the downtown garage in Tampa), then I don't bother. Alleviating range anxiety is a major reason that I got the Volt instead of a used Tesla in the first place.

 

[BAZINGA]

I have owned 3 Volts since March 2012, driving them over 67K miles with an average AER of over 95%. I have NEVER charged away from MY garage. Level II charging is just too slow for "ON THE GO" charging. Even playing with EVTRIPPLANNER and a mid range Tesla on a few of my fictional road trips adds 2 to 3 hours to the journey. If Destination charging was "guaranteed" I could chop about 30 to 45 minutes off my enroute charging times. But having seen the THREE Tesla Destination chargers at the Hampton Inn in Barboursville WV we RON at on our trips to Maryland ICE'd and the hotel management unable to get them moved I question if even a Tesla with its FAST charging is adequate.

Sad but until there are enforceable laws that prevent ICE'ing, EV charging away from HOME is a gamble. And I'm not willing to gamble on our safety.

The Volt charged at HOME is still the best thing going.

 

[flyingsherpa]

Sometimes public charging is convenient, like in the parking lot of the hotel you're staying in. On those occasions I would use it with a Volt. But if there isn't any that won't make your life harder, don't use it - that's the whole point of the EREV.

+1
It's sort of fun when you're new to EVs to chase down some public charging. But after a while, you realize you're putting yourself through a lot of hassle (unnecessarily, with the Volt) to save a buck or two's worth of gas. Not worth it, IMHO.

I have free charging at work, which is great. But we get more EVs every day, so sometimes I find myself checking the 4 spots we have a few times a day and still not able to get on. In the summer I don't mind, because it's a nice break to take a walk to the stations, but in the winter I often stop trying because I hate going out in the cold only to find I can't get on yet again. I often just charge at home all winter and pay the few extra bucks a week for my own electricity.

 

[obermd]

I use them. I also carry a 40 ft 12 guage all-weather extension cord so I can plug into a standard outlet anywhere I go. As I've travelled around I've found that older hotels have outdoor outlets and they generally have no issues with me plugging my car in overnight (after I've asked). In fact, they're frequently intrigued by the idea of using standard current to power my car.

At work I have free level 2 charging with a four hour limit. It's pay to park and I'm one of the first people to arrive so I can always plug my car in.

 

[Steverino]

If convenient use a public charger, if not, don't. The Volt has flexibility when it comes to fuel types.

In over 7 years of driving our Volt, we have used public charging only a handful of times. Our garage is the primary charging station.

 

[JRRF]

If it's free and very convenient, then sure, why not. But if you have to go out of your way it's not worth it, particularly for 2 hours. And if you have to pay for it, forget it! It will cost you less in gas than what you will pay for the charge.

A Volt is not a BEV, though most of us like to drive it like one. It has an engine because you can use it, not ignore it.

 

[Lotus54]

I also only infrequently use a public charge station. If there is one nearby, I certainly will use if I can. But unless I’m parking quite some time it doens’t make that much difference. The pay ones are more than running gasoline.

I like to run the gas engine for longer periods of time. So if I’m going someplace I know that electric range is not enough- I’ll switch to hold when I’m on the hiway and run it for an hour. Then switch back when I’m close to destination and stop and go type traffic (or if I got into bad traffic I would- but that has not happened yet).

Sometimes I wish I had waited for the 2019- just for the quicker charging. But really that is rare. Most of the time I just charge at home (I have level II) and it is just fine.

Mark

 

[Barry]

I agree with the others. Public charging is still too rare and unreliable to bother with if you have a Volt. And you need to be somewhere at least 3-4 hours to get a significant charge, so that rules out most of the things I would usually drive to except:
1) work
2) a hotel (I have always struck out at every hotel I have asked)
3) If I go to a movie and happen to eat dinner within walking distance (rare)

I have picked up just a few opportunity charges over the years. Not enough to make any difference. As a practical matter, charge at home and drive on gas when that runs out. It has never really even been worth the time to look on Plugshare to see what was possible.

One thing owning a Volt has taught me is that I would not want to own a BEV unless it had enough range that I could use home charging exclusively in any weather. And I see new EVs being made and sold a lot faster than new public charging infrastructure is being installed, so this situation is not improving.

 

[FI Spyder]

The only time I need to charge is my once a month trip to car club meeting in a town a few towns away. I'll plug it in and walk across the road to do a couple hours shopping, it's free. The short walk is good exercise for you, something most city people need anyways regardless of age and you don't have to shell out money to a gym to do the same thing. If it's out of service/being used, no biggy, just park where it's convenient. These days people will use their car to drive a few blocks then die at 54 because they didn't keep their body in good shape. I'm always reminded of the couple I played golf with once, She was 86, he was 94, I joined them on the back nine of their 18 holes and they weren't using a golf cart. Use it or loose it.

 

[srmarti]

There are a couple of free public charging spots I'll use during the day if not already in use or ICE'd. Sometimes if I stop and have lunch I'll get half a charge worth. It's nice to get some free charging if available, but the Volt is too slow to get much charging at brief stops. If available, sure, I plug in. If not, I don't really worry about it. I'm not going to get stuck somewhere waiting on a charging station. Yesterday another Volt and a Clarity where already using the charger. No biggie. I just burn a bit of gas. Plenty of range even if the grid is down a few days.

 

[srmarti]

I agree with the others. Public charging is still too rare and unreliable to bother with if you have a Volt. And you need to be somewhere at least 3-4 hours to get a significant charge, so that rules out most of the things I would usually drive to except:
1) work
2) a hotel (I have always struck out at every hotel I have asked)
3) If I go to a movie and happen to eat dinner within walking distance (rare)

2 hours is worth about 20 miles at the Volt' L2 rate. That's significant. In general my observations are about the same.

 

[KenC]

One, it has to be convenient, and two, it has to be less expensive than gas, ie free. If it's any of the pay charging networks, then it'll cost as much as gas if not more, so it's not worth it.

 

[barich]

If I'm going outside electric range, I will check to see if there's a place at or close to my destination with a charging station if I will be parked long enough for the car to fully or mostly recharge, it's not going to cost me anything other than what I'd otherwise pay for parking, and it's not particularly out of my way. I've probably met all of those conditions about 3 times in the year and a half that I've owned the car.

 

[Off Oil]

I've gotten over using public charging stations for my Volt. The backup generator is the Volt's Supercharger. If I'm staying at a Hotel that has charging, then I'll utilize it, however I won't go out my way to use public stations. This is the beauty and purpose of owning an EREV.

 

[El Dobro]

Public charging?

 

[jcanoe]

My experience with public Level 2 charging stations has been very good. I was able to use a free Level 2 charging station for 2-3 hours while at my office. I was able to complete a ~60 mile round trip without using any gas.

 

[eDreamin']

... As a practical matter, charge at home and drive on gas when that runs out. It has never really even been worth the time to look on Plugshare to see what was possible.

In 2 1/2 years of ownership, I've used exactly two public chargers; one (free) near a bar/restaurant I frequent, and another ($0.10/kWh) at a local sports complex (I referee). i could live without either one. When I referee out of town, I don't even bother to see if there's a plug nearby.

edit: Oops! Just thought of a third (free), at a nearby grocery store. Isn't worth the time it takes to hold up the ChargePoint tag to the unit, for the amount of juice I get.