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A little confused about these kW numbers, please help clarify for me.

5426 Views 60 Replies 23 Participants Last post by  GJETSON
I've seen 2 numbers associated with the Bolt.
11 kW, and 55 kW

I saw a public charging station outside of a Denny's restaurant, stopped by to look at the spec. It read "50 kW". This station only charges $0.50 per hour to charge.

So if I hook up my future Bolt EUV to it, will I get 11 kW/hour delivered to the battery, or will I get 50 kW/hour? I know there are losses due to battery SOC and other factors, so the numbers I posted are ideal/theoretical. Let's assume there's no loss to make it easier to understand.

Thanks!
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No. Bolt charges at up to 54 or 55ish kW, not 50. I've hit those rates.
So if I hook up my future Bolt EUV to it, will I get 11 kW/hour delivered to the battery, or will I get 50 kW/hour?
This isn't a correct question. This makes no sense in the context of EVs.

See Level 3 Charging Speed(s) on 2020. I'd write more but have other things going over here right now.
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I think the key figure is not 50kW but 50 cents. If it's 50 cents per kilowatt, then it's likely Level 3. If it's 50 cents per hour, then I suspect the unit is a mislabeled Level 2.
Huh? Seems like you have a bunch of unit confusion.

What does "50 cents per kilowatt" mean? Can you give us an example of that somewhere like on Plugshare?
Please see attached screenshot.
This shows that I can charge there for $0.50/hour. Either L2 or L3, same price?
View attachment 49749
I see at Denny's Delano | PlugShare a reference to EV Connect (New Electric Vehicle Fast Chargers Now Available Along State Highways in Central California | Caltrans). You may have to use their app to see accurate pricing. I just took a look at their app.

It looks like there are 2 J1772 handles and it claims 7.2 kW (it's possible it's slightly off, not clear if they account for 208 vs. 240 volts) which are 50 cents per hour.

It also lists two dual handle 50 kW DC FCs and it's $2 per hour. You can also get hit with $1/hour idle fees.

Since you mention Delano, I HAVE charged my former Bolt at Delano Maintenance Station | PlugShare before, which has two FREE DC FCs. Used them during my road trip between Nor Cal and So Cal in Dec 2021. I took highway 99. They are part of New Electric Vehicle Fast Chargers Now Available Along State Highways in Central California | Caltrans. Those guys will NOT go above 50 kW though.

One unit worked fine. The other one worked except its LCD was totally out. The hardware stop button didn't work nor was I able to stop charging by pushing pretty hard on the CCS handle's trigger. I didn't want to break it as it didn't feel a two stage button that would ramp down charging then release. I had to press stop on my former Bolt's infotainment system.

If I had my Niro EV, I wouldn't even want to try it since it has no stop button I can find.
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"11kW is the rate at which you can charge at home on 240v power"

Should read as disclaimer. If one has a car with a 11kW charger then they might be able to charge near that rate. There is a number of variables that affect that number.
Yes, OP can look at top of 3 Factors that Determine Electric Car Charging Times. The max J1772 station delivery rate must also be at least 11 kW. Basically, you need an EVSE that can output 48 amps and advertise that via its pilot signal (Basics of SAE J1772). 240 volts * 48 amps = 11,520 watts = 11.52 kW.
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Since you mention Delano, I HAVE charged my former Bolt at Delano Maintenance Station | PlugShare before, which has two FREE DC FCs. Used them during my road trip between Nor Cal and So Cal in Dec 2021. I took highway 99. They are part of New Electric Vehicle Fast Chargers Now Available Along State Highways in Central California | Caltrans. Those guys will NOT go above 50 kW though.

One unit worked fine. The other one worked except its LCD was totally out. The hardware stop button didn't work nor was I able to stop charging by pushing pretty hard on the CCS handle's trigger. I didn't want to break it as it didn't feel a two stage button that would ramp down charging then release. I had to press stop on my former Bolt's infotainment system.

If I had my Niro EV, I wouldn't even want to try it since it has no stop button I can find.
Re: stopping SAE Combo/CCS1 chargers, see PSA: On CCS1/SAE Combo DC chargers, best to stop the.... Whether you can stop them via their SAE Combo handle varies...
I see at Denny's Delano | PlugShare a reference to EV Connect (New Electric Vehicle Fast Chargers Now Available Along State Highways in Central California | Caltrans). You may have to use their app to see accurate pricing. I just took a look at their app.

It looks like there are 2 J1772 handles and it claims 7.2 kW (it's possible it's slightly off, not clear if they account for 208 vs. 240 volts) which are 50 cents per hour.

It also lists two dual handle 50 kW DC FCs and it's $2 per hour. You can also get hit with $1/hour idle fees.

Since you mention Delano, I HAVE charged my former Bolt at Delano Maintenance Station | PlugShare before, which has two FREE DC FCs. Used them during my road trip between Nor Cal and So Cal in Dec 2021. I took highway 99. They are part of New Electric Vehicle Fast Chargers Now Available Along State Highways in Central California | Caltrans. Those guys will NOT go above 50 kW though.

One unit worked fine. The other one worked except its LCD was totally out. The hardware stop button didn't work nor was I able to stop charging by pushing pretty hard on the CCS handle's trigger. I didn't want to break it as it didn't feel a two stage button that would ramp down charging then release. I had to press stop on my former Bolt's infotainment system.

If I had my Niro EV, I wouldn't even want to try it since it has no stop button I can find.
So, I did a road trip to So Cal on Christmas Day. I'm in So Cal now.

Both stations at Delano Maintenance Station | PlugShare were broken for CCS. CHAdeMO might work.

I had to backtrack and use Denny's Delano | PlugShare which I confirmed is super cheap at $2/hr for DC FC. I was busy but did see 37 kW charging rate. Don't know if that was the peak. On my Niro EV, I got 39.713 kWh over 1 hour 7 mins and it cost me $2.25! This is the cheapest DC FC I've used short of being free. I charged well into my Niro EV's tapers so if I cut it off earlier, it'd have been less per kWh.

At least Tejon Pass Rest Area - Southbound | PlugShare improved to at least 3 working instead of 1. It's possible a 4th one works but only on the CHAdeMO side.

While playing w/my Niro EV on a DC FC, I found I could stop DC FC if I set its target charge level to below where I was at. But, I think its minimum is 50%... so, if below 50%, not sure you can stop from the car side.
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