Charging in peak thought I told it not to

[Todd]

I have my off-peak set to 4am-5am because I don't want it to charge but I want to leave it plugged in. Yet when I plug it in it starts charging. I triple checked that it's set to 'Off Peak Only', the Off Peak is 4-5 am, and the clock is right. (Also checked that I am in the correct season).

Any idea why my car is failing to respect my authority?

 

[winterescape]

Either I think that you have the wording of your question confused or I am confused about your question.

You said:
“I don’t want it to charge”
I told it that “off peak” is 4-5 AM

So it will charge during off peak times as that is what you asked it to do. Off peak should be your lowest cost electricity, peak is your highest cost electricity

If you mean that it starts to charge immediately, check the option for "priority charge mode" which will cause it to charge up to 40% and then hold. Also check that your home location is properly set. It uses your home location to determine if you plugged in at home where it should obey peak rates or while traveling where it should charge immediately

 

[Todd]

More precisely, I'd like it to not charge at all but still leave it plugged in to allow it to protect itself during extreme cold periods. But I have it set to off-peak charging only with a 1-hour window because that is the smallest window I can have.

Priority charging is off, and it is already 80% charged. I will check the home setting. Thanks.

I wish GM would offer a way to keep it plugged in but not charge at all (perhaps unless it gets down to 40%). I'm trying to preserve the battery and don't want a 100% or even 90% charge on "Hill Top Reserve" set to ON. Or, even better, allow the owner to set the top charge (SoC?) for the battery.

 

[Todd]

I checked - location based charging is off. So it's charging during peak time even though it's set to "Off Peak Only"

Any clues?

 

[michael]

I haven't found a way to tell it to NOT charge. Other EVs I've used have a way to turn off the departure date for certain days of the week. If the Bolt has something like this I haven't found it.

 

[SeanNelson]

I checked - location based charging is off. So it's charging during peak time even though it's set to "Off Peak Only"

I think you may need to turn location based charging ON. It seems to me that the logic would go like this: When you're away from your home the normal peak/off-peak rates may not apply (you could be in a different jurisdiction, for example). It's only when you're at home and using the juice that you're paying for directly that the car should honour that schedule.

Edit: On page 130 of the owners manual, it states:

When the vehicle is not at the saved home location, then the vehicle will default to the lower limit of Charge Limit Preference and the Charge Mode will be set to Immediate.

 

[winterescape]

I checked - location based charging is off. So it's charging during peak time even though it's set to "Off Peak Only"

I think you may need to turn location based charging ON. It seems to me that the logic would go like this: When you're away from your home the normal peak/off-peak rates may not apply (you could be in a different jurisdiction, for example). It's only when you're at home and using the juice that you're paying for directly that the car should honour that schedule.

Edit: On page 130 of the owners manual, it states:
[quote]When the vehicle is not at the saved home location, then the vehicle will default to the lower limit of Charge Limit Preference and the Charge Mode will be set to Immediate.

[/quote]

exactly

Also, if that doesn't resolve it one other thought, you mentioned it was 80% and you mentioned that you only "allowed" it 1 hour to charge as that was the minimum. If I was writing the firmware (which I did not!) and I was given less time to charge than required I would assume that you still wanted me to charge and ignore the rule to make sure that I charged

 

[Todd]

I've experimented and have I think the answer. If I set "off peak" to a minimum of 4 hours, then it will obey and not charge except in those hours. Anything less and it will ignore my instructions and start charging immediately.

:x This is annoying. I don't need it to charge 4 hours a night. I don't plan to drive it that much. REQUEST TO GM: PLEASE FIX THIS TO ALLOW A LOWER MINIMUM TIME FOR CHARGE. THAT WAY I CAN LEAVE IT PLUGGED IN (SO IT CAN WARM THE BATTERY DURING COLD PERIODS) BUT NOT REQUIRE ME TO CHARGE IT FULLY WHEN I DON'T NEED IT TO BE FULLY CHARGED.

BETTER YET: ALLOW THE USER TO SET A LOWER TOP SoC--LIKE 70%.

 

[GetOffYourGas]

It is maddening that GM doesn't allow us to plug in without charging the battery. I too want to be able to plug in to condition the battery and the cabin when needed without having to keep the battery charged. The Bolt has a huge battery - way more than my daily routine requires. I intend to keep the car for 10-12 years so I want to be as gentle as possible on it. That includes keeping the SoC near the mid-range and away from the extremes.

I currently have it plugged in at work with a departure time set about 4 hours after I really leave. That way it gets me to 60-65% charged when I actually leave. But in the summer, that means charging during the hottest part of the day. It also means I have to set a departure time for the weekends, when I often need a little extra juice. Why on earth would GM do it this way? I have a regular job, and can use departure times M-F. On the weekends, I should be able to charge whenever the car is plugged in. Drives me crazy to constantly have to turn on the car to enable a temporary override. At least Nissan put a button on the dash for that, which didn't even require having the key in your pocket.

I'll have to play around with off-peak times to get what I really need.

 

[Todd]

Nope it's back. I thought I had it figured out. But it's charging during peak again when set to off-peak only. I posted a question in the Ask GM forum. Will report back here when I get an answer.

 

[Pachanga10]

I have this exact same interest trying to get it to Long Green Flash ,not charge when plugged in ,now trying minimum 4 hr off peak. If you heard back from General Motors please update post.

 

[Williams60]

Even when set to only charge during off peak, it will still start to charge initially when you first plug it in. It takes around 5 minutes before mine will switch itself off and then delay the charge start until off-peak times, or until the time it needs to start to be fully charged before your 'departure time', if you have it on this setting. It concerned me when I first experienced this, but one of the times I just left it and then heard the load 'click' as it shut its charging off after around 5 - 10 minutes (I can't remember exactly how long, but it was quite a while as I was pottering around in the garage doing something else...).

 

[Anonymous]

Just move the 4 hour window so it does not start until 1 or 2 hours before you plan on getting in the car. That will get you the minimum charge time that you are looking for and the charging right before you get in the car will put some extra heat in the battery.

 

[IMAdolt]

Or set your off peak times to when know you're not going to be plugged in, like right after you're going to work.

All that aside I think the battery will condition weather it's plugged in or not down to about 30% SoC? If that's the case just don't plug it in unless you want it charged or maybe it's really cold?