Adding DC fast charge after purchase?

[sbaker]

I'm guessing that the answer to this question is a resounding "No", but I'll ask just in case - does anyone know if you can add the DC fast charging equipment to the Bolt after you've already purchased it and taken it home?

I convinced myself that I didn't really need DC fast charging because it doesn't really enable a long road trip** and most of my driving is well within the battery's range. But I just realized there's one use case where it would *really* come in handy. I'd happily pay the $750 if I could take it back to the dealer and have the fast charger installed, if that were an option.

** If you can, at most, add 90 miles of range in 30 minutes (as Chevy claims), then it would take 1 hour & 20 minutes to go from empty to full charge. This assumes that charging wouldn't slow down as the battery fills up, which isn't what happens, so in reality it'd take longer to get to a full charge, but let's ignore that for simplicity. So if you were driving at a steady 60 MPH, it'd take you 4 hours to empty the battery (again, optimistic assumptions on efficiency at highway speeds apply) and another 1.33 hours to fill back up - not very appealing.

 

[emv]

Answering based on the Spark (which really was the beta test for the Bolt). No! No way in the theological place of eternal punishment. And even if it could be done it wouldn't be close to $750. At least one Spark owner found this out the hard way after believing a less than reputable salesman.

 

[michael]

I'm facing the same decision. It basically adds $10/month to the lease and it's likely I would never use it, but I'm thinking to include this option.


It's a wobbler in my mind whether to get it. But I think you've crossed the bridge.

 

[dandrewk]

There are many dealers who I talk to who won't order a Bolt without fast charge option unless it's a special order for a customer.

 

[SeanNelson]

I convinced myself that I didn't really need DC fast charging because it doesn't really enable a long road trip** and most of my driving is well within the battery's range. But I just realized there's one use case where it would *really* come in handy.

This is exactly why forum members have been exhorting people to buy the Bolt with the DCFC option. It doesn't matter what you think you need today, the future always has a way of coming up and biting you on the you-know-where.

 

[Nagorak]

Don't buy a Bolt without DCFC. DCFC should have been a standard option. Right now it may not seem useful, but five years from now when chargers are more ubiquitous things may look different. On top of that it should help the resale value of the vehicle.

 

[phil0909]

But I just realized there's one use case where it would *really* come in handy.

What's your use case? Just curious.

 

[LeftieBiker]

One or three leaf owners (not lessees!) have apparently succeeded in adding QC (Chademo) to their cars, using salvaged and new parts, but it isn't generally considered to be very do-able. I got a fantastic lease deal on my Leaf, in part because it lacks QC, but since we finally got combo stations in my area just last year, that disqualifies my car from continued ownership. In 3 years the Bolts that lack DCFC will probably be the ones that get sold, eventually, for $10,000.

 

[Mailman13]

One or three leaf owners (not lessees!) have apparently succeeded in adding QC (Chademo) to their cars, using salvaged and new parts, but it isn't generally considered to be very do-able. I got a fantastic lease deal on my Leaf, in part because it lacks QC, but since we finally got combo stations in my area just last year, that disqualifies my car from continued ownership. In 3 years the Bolts that lack DCFC will probably be the ones that get sold, eventually, for $10,000.

Now that's an accurate post on depreciation of the Leaf.
My 2013 Leaf with QC had a MSRP of $28,000 I believe when I leased it. After my two-year lease was up, they offered it to me for $8000!!!

 

[LeftieBiker]

My 2013 LEAF with QC had a MSRP of $28,000 I believe when I leased it. After my two-year lease was up, they offered it to me for $8000!!!

Ironically, if Nissan hadn't been so slow to budge on the high residuals in 2013 (looking at you now, GM!) they could have sold a lot more of them to lessees for more than $10, and seen a lot fewer of them auction for much less than that.

 

[sbaker]

What's your use case? Just curious.

Driving to and from Orange County from San Diego. I visit some family friends about once every month, and they live about 100 miles away. On paper, getting there and back without charging along the way shouldn't be an issue, but that assumes that I can maintain 4 mi/kWh the whole way. I'm finding that freeway driving might make that a bit optimistic. I can charge at their house, but the included EVSE only adds 4 miles / hour of charging - so that may or may not be helpful, depending on how long we visit.

Ultimately, upgrading the included EVSE for 220V is probably my best bet - my pal has 220V outlets in his garage, and adding 8 miles / hour of charging would probably be enough.

 

[kicoken]

** If you can, at most, add 90 miles of range in 30 minutes (as Chevy claims), then it would take 1 hour & 20 minutes to go from empty to full charge. This assumes that charging wouldn't slow down as the battery fills up, which isn't what happens, so in reality it'd take longer to get to a full charge, but let's ignore that for simplicity. So if you were driving at a steady 60 MPH, it'd take you 4 hours to empty the battery (again, optimistic assumptions on efficiency at highway speeds apply) and another 1.33 hours to fill back up - not very appealing.

Full charge on a DCFC will be over two hours. I hit 87% SoC in 90 minutes and at that point was adding around 2% per every 5 minutes (16kW charge rate) and I would imagine there would be another taper coming before it hit 100%. I was not willing to sit on the charger for another hour to find out.

 

[michael]

What's your use case? Just curious.

Driving to and from Orange County from San Diego. I visit some family friends about once every month, and they live about 100 miles away. On paper, getting there and back without charging along the way shouldn't be an issue, but that assumes that I can maintain 4 mi/kWh the whole way. I'm finding that freeway driving might make that a bit optimistic. I can charge at their house, but the included EVSE only adds 4 miles / hour of charging - so that may or may not be helpful, depending on how long we visit.

Ultimately, upgrading the included EVSE for 220V is probably my best bet - my pal has 220V outlets in his garage, and adding 8 miles / hour of charging would probably be enough.

I installed a 6 kW EVSE at a friend's house on the other side of the city, it became my private satellite charging station. Later on she bought her own EV and uses it too. It gets 15-20 miles per hour while I'm visiting, much better even than stopping at a DCFC enroute.

 

[GetOffYourGas]

I installed a 6 kW EVSE at a friend's house on the other side of the city, it became my private satellite charging station. Later on she bought her own EV and uses it too. It gets 15-20 miles per hour while I'm visiting, much better even than stopping at a DCFC enroute.

Sounds like a sweet deal for both of you! Win-win!

 

[Nagorak]

My 2013 LEAF with QC had a MSRP of $28,000 I believe when I leased it. After my two-year lease was up, they offered it to me for $8000!!!

Ironically, if Nissan hadn't been so slow to budge on the high residuals in 2013 (looking at you now, GM!) they could have sold a lot more of them to lessees for more than $10, and seen a lot fewer of them auction for much less than that.

True, but they made a lot of us second hand buyers very happy!

 

[Nagorak]

Driving to and from Orange County from San Diego. I visit some family friends about once every month, and they live about 100 miles away. On paper, getting there and back without charging along the way shouldn't be an issue, but that assumes that I can maintain 4 mi/kWh the whole way. I'm finding that freeway driving might make that a bit optimistic. I can charge at their house, but the included EVSE only adds 4 miles / hour of charging - so that may or may not be helpful, depending on how long we visit.

Ultimately, upgrading the included EVSE for 220V is probably my best bet - my pal has 220V outlets in his garage, and adding 8 miles / hour of charging would probably be enough.

We have level 2 chargers down here in San Diego too. Just hooking up to one of those for a couple hours for a top off might be enough if it looks like you're going to come up short.

 

[SeanNelson]

Ultimately, upgrading the included EVSE for 220V is probably my best bet - my pal has 220V outlets in his garage, and adding 8 miles / hour of charging would probably be enough.

The EVSE that comes with the Bolt is, as I understand it, the same one that comes with the Gen2 Volt, and that EVSE can run on either 120V or 240V by autosensing the line voltage. You just have to make an adapter that will allow its 120V plug to be plugged into a 240V socket (and be sure not to use that adapter for anything else!!!)

 

[Peter1984]

Here is a stupid question. Can a non-fast charge Chevy Bolt use the css charger for just level 2 charging?

 

[theothertom]

Here is a stupid question. Can a non-fast charge Chevy Bolt use the css charger for just level 2 charging?

If you mean the CCS charger, no it can't

 

[BoltEV]

Here is a stupid question. Can a non-fast charge Chevy Bolt use the css charger for just level 2 charging?

If you do not have the capacity to use CSS DCFC charging in your Chevy Bolt EV, then invest the in adapter that allows you to use the Level 2 Tesla chargers that many hotels/motels installed over the years. It expands your Level 2 charging availability exponentially:

https://ev-lectron.com/products/lec...oWY-eRMabeoBPHwiQURGMr5QCd_NVSJxoCy4QQAvD_BwE