Pigtail for Bolt

[willk58]

My lease just ended on my 2017 Volt. I used a pigtail to connect the charging cable to 220v. Buying a new Bolt today. Can I use the same pigtail to plug in the one that comes with the Bolt? Is it okay to routinely charge to full or should I only go 80 or 90%? Thank you.

 

[Pigwich]

Yup, as long as it's the regular clipper creek inside charger that's been coming stock.

https://www.chevrolet.com/content/dam/chevrolet/na/us/english/index/vehicle-groups/charging/01-images/2019-ev-charging-intro-05.jpg?imwidth=1200

That's a picture of one. I use the pigtail on my 2017 and it's a godsend when we AirBnB. Pop it in to an old dryer plug, stove, alligator clips in the fuse box those chargers gobble up 220 and love every minute of it. Even ended up at a house up in the mountains that had a problematic 110V outlet outside that ended up being a surprise 220V miswire! Turns out I was the only person this accident was happy for.

Do it. it's cool. 3 days of charging from zero completely blows. This puts you back in overnight land.

 

[theothertom]

My lease just ended on my 2017 Volt. I used a pigtail to connect the charging cable to 220v. Buying a new Bolt today. Can I use the same pigtail to plug in the one that comes with the Bolt? Is it okay to routinely charge to full or should I only go 80 or 90%? Thank you.

Your new Bolt will come with an EVSE (which most people, including me, mistakenly call a charger) which you plug in an outlet and plug the other end into your car. I'm not sure what you mean by "pigtail".
There's a big debate about whether you should charge to 100% or not. You can search the web but you'll get a lot of yes and no answers.

 

[SparkE]

My lease just ended on my 2017 Volt. I used a pigtail to connect the charging cable to 220v. Buying a new Bolt today. Can I use the same pigtail to plug in the one that comes with the Bolt? Is it okay to routinely charge to full or should I only go 80 or 90%? Thank you.

Your new Bolt will come with an EVSE (which most people, including me, mistakenly call a charger) which you plug in an outlet and plug the other end into your car. I'm not sure what you mean by "pigtail".
There's a big debate about whether you should charge to 100% or not. You can search the web but you'll get a lot of yes and no answers.

A 'pigtail' is a "very short extension cord that does socket conversion" (say, plugs into a NEMA 10-30 socket {it has a 10-30 plug} and offers a 14-30 socket). In this case (standard EVSE delivered with the Bolt), the pigtail plugs into {some form of 240V socket} and offers a NEMA 5-15 socket {standard 120V, 15amp socket}, which allows the standard Bolt EVSE to charge at 240V (and can be a dangerous 'pigtail' to just leave sitting around, as it allows any 120V appliance to plug into 240V socket).

 

[SparkE]

My lease just ended on my 2017 Volt. I used a pigtail to connect the charging cable to 220v. Buying a new Bolt today. Can I use the same pigtail to plug in the one that comes with the Bolt? Is it okay to routinely charge to full or should I only go 80 or 90%? Thank you.

The EVSE delivered with the Bolt is reported to be the same world-wide (except plug differences) and accepts both 120V and 240V, and will work on both.

YMMV, don't believe me, it ain't my fault if it fries your house.

 

[theothertom]

A 'pigtail' is a "very short extension cord that does socket conversion" (say, plugs into a NEMA 10-30 socket {it has a 10-30 plug} and offers a 14-30 socket). In this case (standard EVSE delivered with the Bolt), the pigtail plugs into {some form of 240V socket} and offers a NEMA 5-15 socket {standard 120V, 15amp socket}, which allows the standard Bolt EVSE to charge at 240V (and can be a dangerous 'pigtail' to just leave sitting around, as it allows any 120V appliance to plug into 240V socket).

Thanks for the explanation

 

[gpsman]

Yes. The official safe input voltage for the EVSE is 96 volts AC to 266 volts AC.

Cool it can have that wide of range.
Sucks it can’t go to 277 volts.
(I have 277 volts at work.)

 

[Doc]

I just got my 2019 bolt recently and though the Charging cable that came with it looks like the one in this post it clearly says 120v on the other side. Is this what you all have been supplying 240v to without issues?

 

[sibelman]

I'm thinking the EVSE provided by Chevy with newer Bolts can't (safely) be used with 240V outlets. This one came with my (May 2018) Bolt.

 

[RichCapeCod]

Doc, your question:

"I just got my 2019 bolt recently and though the Charging cable that came with it looks like the one in this post it clearly says 120v on the other side. Is this what you all have been supplying 240v to without issues?"

The answer is, yes. Been doing it since I came home with my Bolt (2019 Premier), around two weeks ago.

This is the place I bought mine. I walked in. I find the whole subject very confusing, so, if you're gonna buy, call them and tell them exactly what you want!!

https://shop.quickchargepower.com/Adapters_c8.htm

Rich

 

[Arob216]

This is the place I bought mine. I walked in. I find the whole subject very confusing, so, if you're gonna buy, call them and tell them exactly what you want!!

https://shop.quickchargepower.com/Adapters_c8.htm

Rich

Ok, I am more confused now...

So I have the stock 120V EVSE, and a Siemens Versicharge with a 10-50P plugged into a 10-50R in my garage.

When I travel, I could bring the Siemens unit along, and would need a 10-50R to 14-50P adapter for most camp\RV sites? So that would ensure a 30A charge (Siemens limit). So, something like https://www.amazon.com/AC-WORKS-WD1...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=700W4XVBAZ9G73SZWVF8?

With the stock EVSE, would I be able to use 14-50R at campsites? And, what would the resulting Amps be? Something like: https://www.amazon.com/3-Prong-Rece...Z9G73SZWVF8&psc=1&refRID=700W4XVBAZ9G73SZWVF8

 

[Bolt2019]

This is the place I bought mine. I walked in. I find the whole subject very confusing, so, if you're gonna buy, call them and tell them exactly what you want!!

https://shop.quickchargepower.com/Adapters_c8.htm

Rich

Ok, I am more confused now...

So I have the stock 120V EVSE, and a Siemens Versicharge with a 10-50P plugged into a 10-50R in my garage.

When I travel, I could bring the Siemens unit along, and would need a 10-50R to 14-50P adapter for most camp\RV sites? So that would ensure a 30A charge (Siemens limit). So, something like https://www.amazon.com/AC-WORKS-WD1...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=700W4XVBAZ9G73SZWVF8?

With the stock EVSE, would I be able to use 14-50R at campsites? And, what would the resulting Amps be? Something like: https://www.amazon.com/3-Prong-Rece...Z9G73SZWVF8&psc=1&refRID=700W4XVBAZ9G73SZWVF8

You'll only ever get 12A through the stock EVSE. The trick here is the non-certified 240V as opposed to the certified 120V. That doubles your throughput from about 1400W to about 2800W both @ 12A.

Something I've read about RV sites are that some of those plugs may be 30A but they're 120V. So there are several factors to take into consideration. You could stock up on all the different variations of adapters if you wanted to cover every possible connection. Including the Tesla adapter.