[Shivetya]

What a change, Z4 to Volt. Ugh. May God have mercy on me.

LT, Comfort, Leather, Bose. Kinetic Blue.


going to have an electrician come out and tell me what a 14-50 will cost to install. Since my parents have an RV and occasionally drop by I can get them more than 120v if i go that route. (some said to do 6-20) so I am a bit confused as to what is really best

Most of my dealer issues stemmed from the front end salesman not knowing email well as it was new to them and I do the majority of work in email. Will have to go back to the dealer in a week or two as there were some scratches on the bumper and a nick there too.

on the slow charge now 120/12

 

[jcanoe]

What a change, Z4 to Volt. Ugh. May God have mercy on me.

LT, Comfort, Leather, Bose. Kinetic Blue.


going to have an electrician come out and tell me what a 14-50 will cost to install. Since my parents have an RV and occasionally drop by I can get them more than 120v if i go that route. (some said to do 6-20) so I am a bit confused as to what is really best

Most of my dealer issues stemmed from the front end salesman not knowing email well as it was new to them and I do the majority of work in email. Will have to go back to the dealer in a week or two as there were some scratches on the bumper and a nick there too.

on the slow charge now 120/12

Nothing wrong with charging at Level I @ 12 amps. Before I switched to Level II I was commuting 40-42 miles per day and using Level I 12 amp setting I needed 9 hours to recharge. Be sure that the circuit is not overloaded. If the outlet is old replace the receptacle for a new one to ensure a nice tight connection. While you are figuring out what to do about a Level II EVSE don't let the Level I EVSE hang by the power cord (been there, done that.) Rig a bungee cord or velcro wrap to take the weight of the EVSE unit.

 

[jcanoe]

going to have an electrician come out and tell me what a 14-50 will cost to install. Since my parents have an RV and occasionally drop by I can get them more than 120v if i go that route. (some said to do 6-20) so I am a bit confused as to what is really best

If your current electrical service has the extra capacity then consider installing a 50 amp circuit, especially if you plan to staying in your current home for a while. A 240V/20 amp circuit is adequate for a Level II EVSE for the Volt but if you ever switch to an EV you will want to charge at 32A or 40A so a 50A circuit will be a good investment now. The additional cost of running heavier gauge wire is minimal compared to the labor, etc.

 

[jegund]

Congrats on pulling the trigger. Yup that is big change. I'm sure you will love the Volt. I'm still amazed after 5 years of driving mine. By far the best for me is hardly ever going to that gasoline place. Really, I fill up every night with less than 20 seconds of effort.

 

[Sheldon]

Congratulations! I look forward to hearing your reactions coming from a BMW sports car. I have a ClipperCreek LCS-20 which will charge fully in a bit less than 4.5 hours, but there is the ChrisTx mod on the OEM charger to plug it into any 240v outlet. You could get/make a 14-50 plug. Plugged into that adapter, the OEM will charge at 240v/12amps in a bit over 5.5 hours; and then all you need is your 14-50 plug. Or you could get one of the products from ClipperCreek. The gen2 Volt can't use more than the LCS-20, since it's max is 3.6kw. [email protected] is reasonable for overnight charging, but you'll get more bonus EV miles on 240v.

 

[jcanoe]

What a change, Z4 to Volt. Ugh. May God have mercy on me.

LT, Comfort, Leather, Bose. Kinetic Blue.

Yes, congratulations on your new Volt. Your driving will never be the same; smooth, silent propulsion is now your domain. May your gas station visits be fewer and far between.

 

[llninja]

Nothing wrong with charging at Level I @ 12 amps. Before I switched to Level II I was commuting 40-42 miles per day and using Level I 12 amp setting I needed 9 hours to recharge. Be sure that the circuit is not overloaded. If the outlet is old replace the receptacle for a new one to ensure a nice tight connection. While you are figuring out what to do about a Level II EVSE don't let the Level I EVSE hang by the power cord (been there, done that.) Rig a bungee cord or velcro wrap to take the weight of the EVSE unit.

I disagree. Go big or go home. 4-5 hour charging without having to fiddle with the 8A 12A setting is worth the money. Don't worry about the math of whether it will pay for itself. The satisfaction that you are charging as fast as possible for this car is enough. Plus you won't feel stranded during those first few days (weeks, months, years) as you try to break every hypermiling record. Don't worry, sometime people are able to break themselves of this horrible habit. My EV mileage was 23 miles today, a combination of driving like Jeff Gordon, 18" custom wheels, deep treadded tires, cabin heater, and cold/snow. Still loving the car.

 

[freshcut]

First off, congrats on the purchase. I'm sure you'll quickly realize how much fun it can be, and really enjoy not being at the mercy of the oil gods when they decide to crank up the prices at the pumps.

Secondly, in response to your question on 6-20 vs. 14-50. Either will be more than sufficient for the Volt to charge at L2. Since you mention having parents that will occasionally need the power, the 14-50 outlet would almost certainly solve that if their RV takes a 240V connection (some RVs take 30A 120V, so just be aware of what their power requirement may be). For ease of a future upgrade, having the 14-50 installed today would certainly be more than enough for an adapter to the OEM EVSE, and still allow for you to upgrade in the future just by replacing the EVSE with a higher output unit that has a 14-50 plug.

 

[ChuckV]

Ironically enough, I'm also about to pick up a Volt as a Z4M driver. I'll be signing on the dotted line at the end of this week.

I'm hanging onto the car though, it will just be relegated to the occasional weekend drive or auto-X outing. I'm getting the Volt because I'd like to hang onto the Z4 as long as possible, so picking up a daily driver car makes a lot of sense. After considering a couple different ICE economy cars, along with the Volt and Prius Prime, I settled on the Volt.

I live in a complex where my unit has a covered external 120v outlet on a dedicated circuit on my back porch next to the parking lot, so I'll be using that and a 10 gauge extension cord for charging. If I had the option to easily install a 240v outlet, I'd do it.

 

[Mister Dave]

If your current electrical service has the extra capacity then consider installing a 50 amp circuit, especially if you plan to staying in your current home for a while. A 240V/20 amp circuit is adequate for a Level II EVSE for the Volt but if you ever switch to an EV you will want to charge at 32A or 40A so a 50A circuit will be a good investment now. The additional cost of running heavier gauge wire is minimal compared to the labor, etc.

This.

Find out what plug they have on the RV (you didn't say really). If you can't find a Clipper Creek with that plug there's always an adapter. I think ChrisTX likes making adapters for the folks.

 

[Shivetya]

This.

Find out what plug they have on the RV (you didn't say really). If you can't find a Clipper Creek with that plug there's always an adapter. I think ChrisTX likes making adapters for the folks.

is he the person who has the Etsy site?

 

[quirkySquirt]

Even if you don't stay in your current home, I'd still consider the 50A circuit with a 14-50 receptacle. Just as you mentioned, people with RVs, high-power shop tools (welders and such), and of course, EVs, will love that a house comes with this stuff pre-installed. It's a definite selling point and you can increase selling price by the cost of the install. Win-win.

 

[Mister Dave]

is he the person who has the Etsy site?

You might be thinking of Scarlett (Steve). Scarlett doesn't sell electrical stuff.

 

[MetaOrbit]

What a change, Z4 to Volt. Ugh.

May God have mercy on me.

LT, Comfort, Leather, Bose. Kinetic Blue.

LOL, you must be the Georgia-version of me. I recently bought the same exact car (color, equipment, etc), also traded in a RWD sports car, and felt the exact same sentiment. In fact, for two weeks after I bought the car I was frankly just pissed off.

Funny thing though - for my long commute I've found the car to be the perfect companion. Quiet, smooth, torquey?, and so much more economical. The L mode is a godsend for heavy traffic and even on gas, the CVT is much smoother than what I previously dealt with in stop and go situations. I even went so far as to put in a 240v outlet and L2 charger. The car is honestly best on electricity and between charging at work and at home I haven't been to the gas station in over a month.

I do miss my coupe for those "fun" drives, but unfortunately those were becoming fewer and further between. I still have a sport bike for thrills on the weekends, but the volt has sold me on the idea of a practical, electric commuter. I'm hoping you grow to enjoy it as much as I have.

 

[Shivetya]

You might be thinking of Scarlett (Steve). Scarlett doesn't sell electrical stuff.

Etsy Site for converters

 

[Shivetya]

I still have a sport bike for thrills on the weekends, but the volt has sold me on the idea of a practical, electric commuter. I'm hoping you grow to enjoy it as much as I have.

I have a Road King which I only got just last year. Figured I could skip the convertible if I had a good alternative

 

[Shivetya]

Question time.

Remote start, i see all the warnings about doing this but if the Volt is garaged is there a chance it might try to start the gasoline engine? I do wish it would not turn on all the lights.

D/L. I found D to let me coast down hills and I can use the paddle to bleed off speed as it can gain without any pedal action. L seems to be just on/off. for hilly country where gaining speed on downhills/etc hypermiling am I right to stick with D?

Window tint, carbon or ceramic? Is the few % extra of IR block worth it for ceramic?

TPM, how far do you need to drive for it to be accurate?

On that note, how long do need to drive the car before the app data is accurate (car was fully charged and app still doesn't know that)

 

[jcanoe]

Question time.

Remote start, i see all the warnings about doing this but if the Volt is garaged is there a chance it might try to start the gasoline engine? I do wish it would not turn on all the lights.

D/L. I found D to let me coast down hills and I can use the paddle to bleed off speed as it can gain without any pedal action. L seems to be just on/off. for hilly country where gaining speed on downhills/etc hypermiling am I right to stick with D?

Under Settings: Vehicle => Climate and Air Quality => Engine Heat Assist Plugged In; Set to NO. That way the Volt will never start the gas engine when it is plugged in even if the temperature drops below 35F (default) or 15F (If Engine Heat Assist is set to Deferred). Whenever you get your Volt serviced by your dealer, when you get the Volt back home be sure to check that the Engine Heat Assist Plugged In setting has not reset to the default value which is YES.

Regarding D or L, try both. Also, if you use the Cruise Control it should engage regen to maintain your set speed.

 

[Mc2wheels]

If you have an iPhone, then you have to go to the vehicle status page and pull down to make it refresh. It will then contact the car to update. Otherwise it is stale data.

 

[Mister Dave]

Etsy Site for converters

Hah - I did not know (assuming that's Chris).

I do wish it would not turn on all the lights.

I think it's a GM thing. My '08 Silverado does it too.