[NewsCoulomb]

So I made my regular 500-mile trip up to Northern California to spend time with the family during Thanksgiving. I was debating whether I should even bother, as I've had this trip take nearly 14 hours in a gas vehicle on the day before Thanksgiving.

As it turned out, the Bolt EV was a champ. The slower traffic coming out of Los Angeles kept the efficiency relatively high, and completing the first 200-mile leg was no problem at all. After Fresno, I started hitting heavier rains and wind, which ultimately brought my efficiency back down to what I see typically on this trip. Highway 99 also turned out to be the better route choice than I-5, as it seemed to have less traffic (and the >2 lanes in each direction was also helpful).

The public DCFC sites were about as occupied as they typically are on Friday evenings -- crowded, but not terrible. I made three charging stops, for a total charging time of about two hours and five minutes (45 minutes, 35 minutes, and 45 minutes).

Overall, the trip took me 10 hours and 20 minutes or about 40 to 50 minutes longer than the trip normally takes me.

https://youtu.be/VDO-h7dd72U

 

[redpoint5]

Any waiting to charge?

 

[Vertiformed]

I made three charging stops, for a total charging time of about two hours and five minutes (45 minutes, 35 minutes, and 45 minutes).

I can't help wanting to do a little bit of analysis of some of the numbers from your video…

You arrived at your first charging stop with 11% remaining 49.7 kWh used. By that I get 49.7/(1-0.11) = 55.84 kWH total capacity for 1 - 55.84/60 = 6.9% possible degradation. But also remember that the weather has turned colder, so it's plausible that your degradation is actually less.

• Charge 1: 45:31, 11% to 65% (54% gained), 33.23 kWh delivered to car (FWIW, my charging model would have guessed 47.2 minutes)
• Charge 2: 35:49, 9% to 54% (45% gained), 26.49 kWh delivered to car (FWIW, my charging model would have guessed 38.0 minutes)
• Charge 3: 46:24, 22% to 73% (51% gained), 31.80 kWh delivered to car (FWIW, my charging model would have guessed 47.5 minutes)

It would be good to know if you ran the heat or anything at any of these charging stops. My guess is that the heating (or cooling) systems did run at the first and third stop but not the second.

You didn't say what the actual percentage was when you arrived, we just get to see the flashing “Low” indicator. I'll assume it was 4%.

Over the whole trip, you used 100% + 54% + 45% + 51% - 4% = 246%. You used 135.7 kWh on the trip, so 135.7 / 2.46 = 55.16 kWh overall capacity.

 

[NewsCoulomb]

Any waiting to charge?

Nope. There was a LEAF parked at a stall at 100%, but I was able to park so the cord would reach.

I also took a chance at a single-CCS location, but it was occupied. I just drove on to the next charger.

 

[NewsCoulomb]

It would be good to know if you ran the heat or anything at any of these charging stops. My guess is that the heating (or cooling) systems did run at the first and third stop but not the second.

Yes, I don't think I ran any systems in Modesto.

You didn't say what the actual percentage was when you arrived, we just get to see the flashing “Low” indicator. I'll assume it was 4%.

That would be a good guess. It definitely dropped below 5%, but I don't have a consistent method for checking battery percentage up there (no internet signal).

 

[Vertiformed]

Yes, I don't think I ran any systems in Modesto.

Ah ha! I could tell because you seemed to be getting about 90% charging efficiency at the first and last stops and about 95% at the second. Thus in the first two (more) power was going somewhere other than the traction battery.

That would be a good guess. It definitely dropped below 5%, but I don't have a consistent method for checking battery percentage up there (no internet signal).

You have Torque Pro. There are two useful PIDs. First “Battery Level Displayed” which is the same value you see in the myChevrolet app (which also works over Bluetooth via KeyPass, needing no Internet connection) and Chevy's website. This gives you a raw value of 255 at full and 0 at empty, but people can disagree about what 1 unit of raw value is (1 raw unit could be 1/255 or 1/256 — rounded to two digits, both 255/256 and 255/255 will say 100% at full — I think this is why the app and the Chevy website sometimes give different values for SoC).

There is also “State Of Charge HD Raw“ which is much more accurate since it is 16-bit rather than 8-bit and tells you how full the car really was when it said it was full, but it's slightly less clear how to convert that into a “usable” battery capacity because there is some margin (about 4%) at the top and bottom that is almost never used (at the top it allows some regen at 100% and at the bottom it provides a little space to go “below empty” until you hit 1% raw SoC).

Anyway, these values from Torque Pro will be much more accurate for knowing battery percent to figure degradation via SoC change and reported kWh used.

 

[NewsCoulomb]

Ah ha! I could tell because you seemed to be getting about 90% charging efficiency at the first and last stops and about 95% at the second. Thus in the first two (more) power was going somewhere other than the traction battery.

Well, with the first stop in Selma, I wasn't using the heating to defog until the very end. I think that hit to efficiency might have come from battery conditioning because I was coming in hot. > :laugh:

The stop in Galt, I was taking a nap (it was a long day), so I turned on the climate control and defogger while I snoozed.

Modesto, I was just catching up on social media and YouTube. I'm a famous vlogger, you know. :laugh:

You have Torque Pro. There are two useful PIDs. First “Battery Level Displayed” which is the same value you see in the myChevrolet app (which also works over Bluetooth via KeyPass, needing no Internet connection) and Chevy's website. This gives you a raw value of 255 at full and 0 at empty, but people can disagree about what 1 unit of raw value is (1 raw unit could be 1/255 or 1/256 — rounded to two digits, both 255/256 and 255/255 will say 100% at full — I think this is why the app and the Chevy website sometimes give different values for SoC).

There is also “State Of Charge HD Raw“ which is much more accurate since it is 16-bit rather than 8-bit and tells you how full the car really was when it said it was full, but it's slightly less clear how to convert that into a “usable” battery capacity because there is some margin (about 4%) at the top and bottom that is almost never used (at the top it allows some regen at 100% and at the bottom it provides a little space to go “below empty” until you hit 1% raw SoC).

Anyway, these values from Torque Pro will be much more accurate for knowing battery percent to figure degradation via SoC change and reported kWh used.

Thanks for the heads up! I might do that if I get a second Android device. My biggest issue right now is that my phone tends to be a catch all for everything.

 

[Fivedoor]

There is also “State Of Charge HD Raw“ which is much more accurate since it is 16-bit rather than 8-bit and tells you how full the car really was when it said it was full, but it's slightly less clear how to convert that into a “usable” battery capacity because there is some margin (about 4%) at the top and bottom that is almost never used (at the top it allows some regen at 100% and at the bottom it provides a little space to go “below empty” until you hit 1% raw SoC).

Anyway, these values from Torque Pro will be much more accurate for knowing battery percent to figure degradation via SoC change and reported kWh used.

We need someone to charge to 100% at a town at high altitude, and then Regen down slop until Regen goes away and report back what the SOC raw reads when the battery is so full that it can't take any more charge from Regen. Then they can drive until the car stops from lack of power and report what SOC raw is when the battery is dead flat empty.

Later,

Keith