stock charger says 120V

[Hpo]

Hello - Just got my Bolt. the charger that comes with it says 120V/12A on it. However, I see a lot of post and even some products on eBay etc. that seem to suggest that the Bolt will charge at 240V with the stock charger if I have a NEMA plug adaptor to go from my 240V.

Have people tried that? What is the downside of that, if I do have 240V/12A connection availble at home and am looking for the cheapest option for home charge.

Thanks
HPO

 

[Bolt2019]

There are some places that sell the adapter. You can also make your own. All against code (in North America anyway). As you saw, the sticker on the brick only says 120V. Turns out it can do 240V but...not certified. So the whole affair is at your own risk.
Then you can use your 240V outlet and double/halve the charging speed.

 

[Norton]

.... What is the downside of that, ...

Downsides:
You have a potentially dangerous 120V outlet in your house that actually has 240V on it. That adapter should be hidden if you ever have an inspector come through.
You only get twice the power after buying this adapter. 2.8kW vs. 1.4 kW.

Upside:
You can be cheap and do this. But what happens when you're away and someone plugs something into this MacGyvered set up?

Or:
You can open that billfold just a tiny bit more and buy an actual L2 for not much money and charge at 3.8kW or 7.2kW depending on what your 240V circuit and outlet is rated for.

Look on amazon to get an idea of prices.
Come on, you just bought a great EV to save you money and time with no servicing. Spend a little more and do the home charging thing right. :!:

 

[Hpo]

Thanks guys for the quick response. I get the point. What home charger would you recommend?

 

[desiv]

You can open that billfold just a tiny bit more and buy an actual L2 for not much money and charge at 3.8kW or 7.2kW depending on what your 240V circuit and outlet is rated for.

Mostly agree, except possibly your definition of "tiny" here. ;-)

An adapter can be made for $20 or bought for something like $60 or so?
The lowest I see in a quick Amazon check is $170..
So, $110.. Not bad, but maybe not tiny.. ;-)

That said, while I made an adapter, I run 30A L2 at home. The adapter is a backup.. ;-)

 

[Norton]

Just a quick note, installing a 30A circuit is right between the two main power ratings for most EVSE's,

There is a 80% constant duty of a circuit rule. That's why you see these charge values.
- 20A circuits are used for 16A/3.8kW EVSE's.
- 40A circuits are used for 32A/7.2kW EVSE's, which is the max for the Bolt.

Why not run a 40A circuit if you're doing it from scratch?

edit: And a 7.2kW EVSE is another $100 more,, but come on, spend a little and have the top of the line home set up!

 

[theothertom]

Why not run a 40A circuit if you're doing it from scratch?

Or better yet add a 50A (or even 60) for future proofing when your next EV will charge at 12kW.

 

[GetOffYourGas]

I ran a 50A circuit to a 14-50 outlet. It is a common outlet at RV parks, so the EVSE I bought will also work there.

 

[tdiguy]

For my bolt i installed a nema 6-20 outlet, but i ran 10-2 wire ( which can handle 30 amps )
I have a level 2 charger i bought from amazon for 170$
I don't drive a whole lot, maybe 70 miles in a day. The 240 charger at 16 amps recharges about 11 miles in a hour, or 88 miles in 8 hours. Easily more than i will likely drive in a given day.
For my use, i just dont see spending the money on the beefy chargers.