[GeneL]

Texas is (like much of the country) suffering a drought. Last night near my house there was a very large wildfire. The farm road that I drive home on was closed and Google maps took me on quite a ride to get home.

By the time I got home I was down to about 40%. I set the target charge level to 100% and turned the charger up to 32 amps. It took until midnight to fully charge.

I'm not sure that I accomplished anything by increasing the charge level; but, I thought "If I'm gonna have to run, I want every bit of charge I can get in that battery."

My house was never in any danger as it turned out. But it was still somewhat scary.

 

[Roadrider7021]

Glad it all worked out!

 

[TheCyberKnight]

...
I'm not sure that I accomplished anything by increasing the charge level; but, I thought "If I'm gonna have to run, I want every bit of charge I can get in that battery."
...

Well, obviously, you accomplished an increased range.
Not a bad thing in your situation.

 

[VoltoBolt]

There is also the ability to use your 100% charged Bolt EV as a backup electricity source for your refrigerator and a few LED lights!

See:

EV Extend - Inverter Kit for 2017-2021 Chevrolet Bolt EV

EVExtend.com is a maker of electric vehicle solutions for personal and commercial use. Our emergency power backup kit designed for the Chevrolet Bolt EV provides wiring for up to 1000W of power with 3000W surge when you need it. Paired with an inverter, this solution provides quick reaction...

www.evextend.com

 

[EV Trek 37604]

There is also the ability to use your 100% charged Bolt EV as a backup electricity source for your refrigerator and a few LED lights!

See:

EV Extend - Inverter Kit for 2017-2021 Chevrolet Bolt EV

EVExtend.com is a maker of electric vehicle solutions for personal and commercial use. Our emergency power backup kit designed for the Chevrolet Bolt EV provides wiring for up to 1000W of power with 3000W surge when you need it. Paired with an inverter, this solution provides quick reaction...

www.evextend.com

Nice way to quickly void your EV compnent warranty…

 

[VoltoBolt]

Nice way to quickly void your EV compnent warranty…

Except that my EV_EXTEND modified Bolt EV just had its battery replacement with not even a hickup; but thanks for your concern!

AND: I think your 2017 general warranty has expired by now, too!

 

[EV Trek 37604]

Th

Except that my EV_EXTEND modified Bolt EV just had its battery replacement with not even a hickup; but thanks for your concern!

The battery replacement was not a warranty issue it was a recall, that falls under different rules. Just hope you don’t need warranty work done on the EV components in the future.

 

[PhilBo]

I usually charge to near full just before an expected snowstorm in case I lose power for an extended period.

 

[VoltoBolt]

The battery replacement was not a warranty issue it was a recall, that falls under different rules. Just hope you don’t need warranty work done on the EV components in the future.

I guess you just cannot except NO for an answer...

I had the EV_EXTEND on my Chevy Volt going back to 2014 and in all the sales they have made in all these years, there has not been any reports of EV warranty violations from installation of their product.

AND: if you would look into what is installed by their product, you would understand that it could not void the warranty: it is simply no different than using jumper cables on the 12v battery with the addition of a 100 amp fuse for safety and Anderson Powerpoles for ease of connection/disconnection.

But again, so much thanks for your concern!

 

[EV Trek 37604]

I guess you just cannot except NO for an answer...

I had the EV_EXTEND on my Chevy Volt going back to 2014 and in all the sales they have made in all these years, there has not been any reports of EV warranty violations from installation of their product.

AND: if you would look into what is installed by their product, you would understand that it could not void the warranty: it is simply no different than using jumper cables on the 12v battery with a 100 amp fuse for safety and Anderson Powerpoles for ease of connection/disconnection.

But again, so much thanks for your concern!

Ok I thought you were saying it pulls power from the main battery, not the 12v battery only, so that would be different.
my bad.
By the way the EV Component warranty is for 8 years only the base warranty is 3 years.

 

[VoltoBolt]

Ok I thought you were saying it pulls power from the main battery, not the 12v battery only, so that would be different.
my bad.

"Check the flight tower logs, for Christ's sake!" - Col. Nathan R Jessup in "A Few Good Men"

 

[GeneL]

While I think the inverter on the 12V battery is clever. I have an 8 kw generator for power outages. Living in the country, I depend on a well for my water; the pump pulls about 3.5 kW.

 

[Pigwich]

Texas is (like much of the country) suffering a drought. Last night near my house there was a very large wildfire. The farm road that I drive home on was closed and Google maps took me on quite a ride to get home.

By the time I got home I was down to about 40%. I set the target charge level to 100% and turned the charger up to 32 amps. It took until midnight to fully charge.

I'm not sure that I accomplished anything by increasing the charge level; but, I thought "If I'm gonna have to run, I want every bit of charge I can get in that battery."

My house was never in any danger as it turned out. But it was still somewhat scary.

Well, the grid can be in danger too. In California they cut power to prevent wildfires. People with wells just LOVE that..... Although I did see that in some places they'll give you a full rebate for a battery backup.

Glad you're home was safe.

 

[VoltoBolt]

While I think the inverter on the 12V battery is clever. I have an 8 kw generator for power outages. Living in the country, I depend on a well for my water; the pump pulls about 3.5 kW.

How do you power your generator? Propane?

 

[GeneL]

How do you power your generator? Propane?

Sadly, the answer is gasoline. I would love to have one of those automatic switchover, propane generators, but can't afford it. So I use a contractor's generator and some special switching equipment. (If you can adjust the frequency gates on your UPS, so that it will accept the power from a small generator, the UPS can clean up the ugly power for a small generator to the point your computer can tolerate it.)

 

[VoltoBolt]

I enjoy watching those Informercials about Generac: if their product is as good as their marketing; it seems to be a great product.

I have had the EVExtend since 2014: first for my Chevy Volt and now for my Bolt EV and in all that time there was only one power outage that I considered actually using it!

Our Municipal Electric Company, LADWP, just has a great track record of keeping us in power when we need it most!

 

[Solar_Bolt]

I enjoy watching those Informercials about Generac: if their product is as good as their marketing; it seems to be a great product.

I have had the EVExtend since 2014: first for my Chevy Volt and now for my Bolt EV and in all that time there was only one power outage that I considered actually using it!

Our Municipal Electric Company, LADWP, just has a great track record of keeping us in power when we need it most!

If the power here got as bad as Calfornia I certainly would get a Generac to run my mostly electric house here, It would have to be sized rather large but I have natgas and a large enough meter it should be a no brainer.

 

[EV Trek 37604]

I enjoy watching those Informercials about Generac: if their product is as good as their marketing; it seems to be a great product.

I have had the EVExtend since 2014: first for my Chevy Volt and now for my Bolt EV and in all that time there was only one power outage that I considered actually using it!

Our Municipal Electric Company, LADWP, just has a great track record of keeping us in power when we need it most!

My brother in Georgia has a Generac Generator that runs off natural gas. It kicks on and runs I think once a month to do diagnostic evaluations on itself. If it detects a problem he gets a text and email alert to have it serviced. Generac also comes out once a year to do a general maintenance check.
His had worked every time they had a power failure since it was installed, it does wait for about a minute before switching to make sure it’s not a momentary glitch.

 

[VoltoBolt]

If the power here got as bad as Calfornia ... but I have natgas and a large enough meter it should be a no brainer.

So long as natural gas is not disrupted as well.

The real answer to self-sufficiency is propane with your own tank.

 

[RacerX00]

I went through Sandy on Long Island and walked away with the understanding that the power will only be off for a little while and the places that have it off for a month will be geographically limited. You never want to fight the last war but Sandy as a metric, even though I live in a neighborhood likely to lose power in a weather disaster from somewhere between days-months I'll be able to go a few towns over for juice.

You know what was missing that entire time that I couldn't just go to the next town for? Gas. The entirety of Long Island, NYC and NJ had 0 gallons of gas and I needed to drive 120 miles off the Island and north to find it.

I just go to 80% like normal, but going to 100% a few times per year anticipating disaster shouldn't hurt you too much, burn away that capacity as soon as you can and you'll mitigate your potential damage even further.