Using the 120V included charger

[Anonymous]

I haven't yet charged my Bolt, but my i-MiEVs both came with 8 amp cords. Painfully slow, even with the small battery. I had one cord upgraded to do 12 amps and either 120 or 240 volt charging. What a difference! 12 amps, even at 120 volts, charges considerably faster, almost 2x faster on the i-MiEV.

I was on 120v 12 amps for my Bolt EV from my old Volt days when I finally got an electrician to run a 100' "extension" cord to my garage from the meter and mounted in my garage a Clipper Creek LCS-20P 240v 20 amp that I had purchased for the Volt that was only used portable.

What a speed difference!

Now almost all of my charges are completed overnight!

 

[tstrobel]

Just to keep the meanings clear: the GM charging cable with the "brick" attached is an "EVSE" or "charging cable." The actual charger is built into the car. The only things an EVSE does are to make sure the connection is safe, and that it is grounded. It feeds house AC current (either 120 or 240 volts, or 208 volts in some commercial setups) to the onboard charger, which charges the pack. DC Fast Charge uses a separate connection to bypass the onboard charger and charge the pack directly, with 400+ volts of direct current.

New to the forums, and only had my bolt one day. Am i reading your post correctly that i can use the included evse on a 240volt plug(with adapter) ?

 

[SeanNelson]

Just to keep the meanings clear: the GM charging cable with the "brick" attached is an "EVSE" or "charging cable." The actual charger is built into the car. The only things an EVSE does are to make sure the connection is safe, and that it is grounded. It feeds house AC current (either 120 or 240 volts, or 208 volts in some commercial setups) to the onboard charger, which charges the pack. DC Fast Charge uses a separate connection to bypass the onboard charger and charge the pack directly, with 400+ volts of direct current.

New to the forums, and only had my bolt one day. Am i reading your post correctly that i can use the included evse on a 240volt plug(with adapter) ?

Yes. The EVSE supplied with the Bolt is the same one that comes with the Volt - see this Volt thread.

 

[Anonymous]

New to the forums, and only had my bolt one day.

WELCOME!

If your outlet can handle it, at 120v be sure to set the Bolt EV to 12 amps and you can even "memorize" this setting as a "home" setting and the gps will remember it when you arrive! This will reduce the charging time about 33% from 120v 8 amps which is downright horrible!

The GM charger at 240v 12amps will be a considerable improvement. I have a clipper creek 240v 20 amp and the difference from 120v 12 amp (which I used for the first six months) is night and day!

 

[sigasiempre]

I'm wondering if I can use the Level 1 charger that came with my Bolt at 127 volts. That's the voltage in Mexico.