God forsaken 8 amp default

[fox]

I could piss and moan for an hour how upset I am about this safety "feature" but I digress as I'd rather ask you kind people outright...
If I buy and install a level 2 charger 240v at my house will I still have to select this BS 12 amp every time or does it just do it?
Is there a different way to make this happen, yes I could probably get in the habit of click click(blow my brains out right?) 12 amp selection EVERY TIME but I could also just drive a gas car and you don't see me doing that because it's easy, or I don't know, keep my 500e and send this packing. I went to college for programming and this here is f'ing piss poor.




*Chevy great car but STUPID decision on this excuse of a setting!!!(it never stays)... Seriously rant over, thanks for coming!

 

[scrambler]

No need to switch anything when using 240Volt.
This is the way to go, no questions asked. Twice the charging speed, no setting to worry about

 

[fox]

Will cost me at least $229 to solve chevys mistake but thank you scrambler, that makes my day!!

 

[NORTON]

:lol: This very subject comes up weekly on the Volt forum with newb owners who are pissed. :lol:
It may have been covered here many times, also.....
It's a lawyer thing. I don't know if any other EV's do it this way.

The usual answer is: RTFM. But I won't say that this time.

What's sad is in the early days of the Volt they'd hand off a Volt for a multi-day review and never mention, "Oh, BTW, you got to select 12A every time when charging with 120V. It buried in a bunch of finger taps, somewhere..." Then you'd see articles about "Volt takes forever to charge on 120V ..."

The Gen 2 Volt at least lets you select your home location for always using 12A with the GPS system knowing where you are.

If you're into EV's you have to get an L2. If you are paying to have a 240 V outlet installed, go BIG now (7.2kW) . You know this won't be your last EV!

 

[SparkE]

If you are paying to have a 240 V outlet installed, go BIG now (7.2kW) . You know this won't be your last EV!

If you are paying an electrician to have wire pulled to a new location, THAT is where you want to not skimp. Pay the extra $50 or $75 to put in VERY THICK copper wiring, and not the smallest you can get away with right now. Go 6 gauge NOW. You really should install a 50 or 60 amp breaker as well, but that's relatively easy to fix later - pulling new wire is NOT.

 

[fox]

I installed the current 110v in their now and I'll install a 240v soon as the breaker box is literally 3 feet from the plug on my car .

 

[scrambler]

For the record, setting your house on fire by running 12 amps charging for 10+ hours in a row, day after day, on a line / outlet not quite up to par is real

The solution was what was done on the Volt Gen2, which is to add Location based charging, so that it would remember the location that is OK to charge at 12 Amps.

 

[fox]

The wiring for this outlet is better than constant 240v and have left the car plugged in for a week at a time.

 

[Pegasus]

I think Scrambler means that when in doubt, it's best to charge at the lower rate. Think of how many people that don't read manuals (or warning signs) and will just plug in to any old 120V outlet without a thought and would wonder why they keep blowing their breaker if the car's default was 12A! (Or worse, start a fire on sub-par circuits.)

 

[SparkevBlogspot]

Some people ignore the rules and use extension cord and power strip (I admit nothing!). Some of them are not rated for much, making them run warm at 8A (low end vacuum cleaner), but very hot at 12A (portable AC unit). Some even melt those cheap things at 12A. Don't ask me how I know.

Frankly, I'm glad it defaults to 8A for safety since I use L1 only when out at friends' house etc. with unknown current capability.

 

[fox]

they could have been efficient about it and put the f'ing switch on the outlet under the outlet cover, nope, start car with key first, wait for slow as mylink, then push like 5 buttons, it doesn't make sense, not one bit, not no sense, no sense, nope, just like this sentence that runs on and on, pointless!

 

[Sparkler]

You could always do what I did: Trade in the Spark for a Bolt!
Location charging that knows when you are home and allows you to set 12A as default for home...

Or better yet, get a 240V EVSE and never have to deal with the menu again.

 

[NORTON]

You could always do what I did: Trade in the Spark for a Bolt!
....

Congrats on the Bolt ! I'm right behind you,, someday.
Looked at your stats: Looks like you had an active weekend, so far, and did "225 miles in one day" !
That would be so much work with a Spark EV, but could be done... :?

I kind of hate to spread this word but, the stock L1 can run on a 240V input at 12A/240V = 2.8kW rate, less than what it is capable on a proper L2 = 3.3kW.
All you need is an illegal/unsafe adapter cable to take any 240V outlet to a 120V outlet. Label the hell out of this thing if you go that route. I mean Big Red Skull and Cross Bones.
You don't want any guest/wife to plug a vacuum cleaner, or whatever, into this adapted dangerous outlet.
You didn't read about it here.....

 

[67goat]

You could always do what I did: Trade in the Spark for a Bolt!
....

Congrats on the Bolt ! I'm right behind you,, someday.
Looked at your stats: Looks like you had an active weekend, so far, and did "225 miles in one day" !
That would be so much work with a Spark EV, but could be done... :?

Not saying it is easy, but I do that at least twice a month without much difficulty at all in my SparkEV. It is hard to do in the valley, but when I go to the Bay Area, it is easier (since it is littered with DCFC stations).

 

[NORTON]

... and did "225 miles in one day" ! ...

Not saying it is easy, but I do that at least twice a month without much difficulty at all in my SparkEV. It is hard to do in the valley, but when I go to the Bay Area, it is easier (since it is littered with DCFC stations).

Sounds like the KC metro area! :lol:
Now if they would only install a DCFC unit in this one mid-size town, I could do the 135 mile Lake House run to the Lake of the Ozarks. I'd be living with the Spark EV a lot longer with that one charge option!

How do you approach a distant city about your desire for the Clean Energy Future?

 

[67goat]

In California, you almost don't have to. There is already a plan in place and grant money available to cities. I say almost, because even though there is a plan and funds, it has been pretty slow to happen in certain areas. There are lots of places it would be easier for me to go if there were just a few more strategically placed stations.

Maybe find a state EV owner's group and get some petitions signed and submit them to the mayor's office and the local business association. If they see there might be more traffic in town, and thus more spending, they may be more interested.