[MurrayM]

Hi there (first post)

We have our 2022 Chevy Bolt EV charging at home using the 120 volt cable because our home fast charger hasn't been installed yet. Winter has arrived...it's -8C (18F) outside right now, and as new Bolt owners we have a question.

We've figured out how to get 12 amps in charging and have put a limit of an 80% charge into the batteries. The car is showing a steady green light right now...do we keep the car plugged in?

Does the car stop drawing power completely, or will it keep drawing a small amount of electricity to keep the batteries at a 'good' temperature?

Murray

 

[Elaine R]

Leave it plugged in. It will keep the battery conditioned, not sure if that's a constant small draw or an intermittent one, but it will be a low draw and is beneficial. I am not aware of any battery incidents with the 80% cap in place.

 

[MurrayM]

Leave it plugged in. It will keep the battery conditioned, not sure if that's a constant small draw or an intermittent one, but it will be a low draw and is beneficial. I am not aware of any battery incidents with the 80% cap in place.

Thanks a bunch.

I flipped through the manual a bit while using a public charger the other day, but didn't find anything on the subject.

 

[TheCyberKnight]

Hi there (first post)

We have our 2022 Chevy Bolt EV charging at home using the 120 volt cable because our home fast charger hasn't been installed yet. Winter has arrived...it's -8C (18F) outside right now, and as new Bolt owners we have a question.

We've figured out how to get 12 amps in charging and have put a limit of an 80% charge into the batteries. The car is showing a steady green light right now...do we keep the car plugged in?

Does the car stop drawing power completely, or will it keep drawing a small amount of electricity to keep the batteries at a 'good' temperature?

Murray

The 120v charger is not enough to cover the power needs when conditioning is required. It will only cover part of it, thus reducing the main battery loss.

Meanwhile, at -8C, it would take a fair amount of time before conditioning is required - as the battery mass is significant.
It will be another story in a month.

 

[jmcbrew]

Keep it plugged in. The car also draws a small amount of power for four hours after the green light goes solid. This is for maintaining the 12v battery.

 

[Eric1704]

Keep it plugged in. The car also draws a small amount of power for four hours after the green light goes solid. This is for maintaining the 12v battery.

Thanks. I plugged mine in around at 50 miles remaining and the green light is blinking. Does it stay steady at a 100% charge or even lower?
Thanks.

 

[Eric1704]

Hi there (first post)

We have our 2022 Chevy Bolt EV charging at home using the 120 volt cable because our home fast charger hasn't been installed yet. Winter has arrived...it's -8C (18F) outside right now, and as new Bolt owners we have a question.

We've figured out how to get 12 amps in charging and have put a limit of an 80% charge into the batteries. The car is showing a steady green light right now...do we keep the car plugged in?

Does the car stop drawing power completely, or will it keep drawing a small amount of electricity to keep the batteries at a 'good' temperature?

Murray

Good Luck with the new car. I am waiting on temperatures to drop below freezing to see what it does itself before plugging it in. Me personally would never ever leave it in there while I am sleeping at home. Prefer to do that while I am awake. Never know when that continuous draw might act up.

 

[Inteliquest]

Hi there (first post)

We have our 2022 Chevy Bolt EV charging at home using the 120 volt cable because our home fast charger hasn't been installed yet. Winter has arrived...it's -8C (18F) outside right now, and as new Bolt owners we have a question.

We've figured out how to get 12 amps in charging and have put a limit of an 80% charge into the batteries. The car is showing a steady green light right now...do we keep the car plugged in?

Does the car stop drawing power completely, or will it keep drawing a small amount of electricity to keep the batteries at a 'good' temperature?

Murray

Keep plugged in... Battery management could kick in to keep battery at a good state intermittently

 

[jmcbrew]

Thanks. I plugged mine in around at 50 miles remaining and the green light is blinking. Does it stay steady at a 100% charge or even lower?
Thanks.

When it is steady, you're at 100% (or whatever your charge limit is set to).

 

[Eric1704]

When it is steady, you're at 100% (or whatever your charge limit is set to).

Thanks!!

"I am the "black" Jeep of the Family!!"

 

[p7wang]

https://news.yahoo.com/tesla-owner-says-car-wouldnt-101617440.html

 

[Sean Nelson]

https://news.yahoo.com/tesla-owner-says-car-wouldnt-101617440.html

Sucks to have his Christmas plans kiboshed. But it sounds very much like a one-off problem and not a quirk of Teslas in general.

 

[M1A4ME]

Christmas weekend, around here, it got down to about 6 F Saturday morning and was around 12 F Sunday morning.

We keep our Bolt plugged in (120 volt/8 amp) all the time out there in the carport. It's been set to 80% max for months now.

I'd occasionally check the battery percent charge on the My Chevrolet app on my phone. Sometimes the charge level shows 80%, sometimes it shows 79%. I'm guessing the system is keeping the battery where it needs to be temp. wise and as it needs to it uses some 120 volt power to maintain the car battery charge. Zero issues driving it Sunday other than the guess o meter showing a drop of about 60 or more miles of range for a 24 mile round trip. For the way we use it that's fine with us.

 

[ARob]

We recently had extreme cold and our local club decided to collect data about range loss and 120V charging on about 20 different EVs.

So, I parked outside, plugged in my 120V cord and temps went from 8F (-13C) to -17F (-27C) over a 12 hour period. I added 12% to the pack, and 39 miles in 12 hours.

Then, to explore thermal management unplugged, I left it unplugged all day, another 12 hour period with temps -17F to -11F and lost 3% on the pack, and 19 miles of range.

Conclusion, while plugged in to 120V @12A for 12 hours, in moderate temps I would have expected to add 17.3 kWh (about 27%) but only added about 7.8kWh, the rest (~9.5kWh) apparently went to keeping the pack warm. Unplugged, I used about 2kWh in the same length of time to keep it warm. So, clearly thermal management is more aggressive when plugged in to even 120V, but you will not add as much to the pack due to conditioning. Another Bolt owner was parked in an unheated garage and used almost no energy for battery conditioning in the same period while plugged in to 120V. His garage temps never went below 30F.

 

[lschroeder]

I will be picking up my 2023 Bolt EV 2LT this Friday at Pontiac IL dealership 93 miles away. They only have L2 available. Said I will receive it at full charge. A Fast Charger is available to me is at Peoria IL Hyundai dealership, 53 miles away. That Hyundia dealership ChargePoint charger is open to the public and is on my way home from Pontiac. I will be using L1 at home until I get L2. Closest L3 ChargePoint is at Hyundai dealership in Moline IL, 43 miles away. No other fast chargers of any kind are available near my home.

My question is I am leaving 2 weeks from now on a plane to San Diego for 7 weeks. Only plan on home L1 charging between tomorrow and then. For the 7 weeks I am gone should I leave it plug into 110 L1 the whole time or get it to 80% and leave it unplugged for the 7 weeks I'm gone?

 

[MattADK]

My question is I am leaving 2 weeks from now on a plane to San Diego for 7 weeks. Only plan on home L1 charging between tomorrow and then. For the 7 weeks I am gone should I leave it plug into 110 L1 the whole time or get it to 80% and leave it unplugged for the 7 weeks I'm gone?

If it were my car I would not leave it unplugged for 7 straight weeks in cold weather.

 

[BobBolt]

I will be picking up my 2023 Bolt EV 2LT this Friday at Pontiac IL dealership 93 miles away. They only have L2 available. Said I will receive it at full charge. A Fast Charger is available to me is at Peoria IL Hyundai dealership, 53 miles away. That Hyundia dealership ChargePoint charger is open to the public and is on my way home from Pontiac. I will be using L1 at home until I get L2. Closest L3 ChargePoint is at Hyundai dealership in Moline IL, 43 miles away. No other fast chargers of any kind are available near my home.

My question is I am leaving 2 weeks from now on a plane to San Diego for 7 weeks. Only plan on home L1 charging between tomorrow and then. For the 7 weeks I am gone should I leave it plug into 110 L1 the whole time or get it to 80% and leave it unplugged for the 7 weeks I'm gone?

If you do a quick search of the community you will find there are several conversations underway about this already.

 

[lschroeder]

If you do a quick search of the community you will find there are several conversations underway about this already.

Thanks. Did quick search. Read the manual as well. New thought. Have daughter take EVSE and car to her house 33 miles away. Park in her powered unattached garage. Drive the Bolt once a week to local Subway (3 miles). Only restaurant in her small western Illinois town. Maybe drive15 miles to an Iowa Walmart once in a while (30 miles round trip). Have charge set to 87%. Keep it plugged-in in her garage. Alternately have her come to my house once a week to drive it 3 miles to see her daughter's community college basketball game (6 miles round trip). Keep it plugged in to a 120v outlet (non-GCCI) in my attached garage. Do not have L2 yet. Would these options be better for battery and tires while I am gone for 7 weeks? Does 87% charge hurt; in case she needs to drive Bolt further?

 

[ARob]

Thanks. Did quick search. Read the manual as well. New thought. Have daughter take EVSE and car to her house 33 miles away. Park in her powered unattached garage. Drive the Bolt once a week to local Subway (3 miles). Only restaurant in her small western Illinois town. Maybe drive15 miles to an Iowa Walmart once in a while (30 miles round trip). Have charge set to 87%. Keep it plugged-in in her garage. Alternately have her come to my house once a week to drive it 3 miles to see her daughter's community college basketball game (6 miles round trip). Keep it plugged in to a 120v outlet (non-GCCI) in my attached garage. Do not have L2 yet. Would these options be better for battery and tires while I am gone for 7 weeks? Does 87% charge hurt; in case she needs to drive Bolt further?

Maybe the greatest benefit for occasional use while you are in San Diego is to keep the tires in good shape.

It doesn't hurt to use the car for short trips, and 87% charge is fine provided it leaves enough range for driving needs. I have been charging to Hilltop Reserve (87-88%) for almost 5 years and only charge to 100% when going on longer trips.

The 12V battery, unlike ICE, is maintained when plugged in to the grid. This is one of the most frequent reasons cited for driving your ICE car every week or two, an ICE only charges the 12V while the engine in running (unless you connect a 12V battery charger to it).

 

[MattADK]

Thanks. Did quick search. Read the manual as well. New thought. Have daughter take EVSE and car to her house 33 miles away. Park in her powered unattached garage. Drive the Bolt once a week to local Subway (3 miles).

Does she need to drive it? Because if you leave it plugged in on a partial charge, there's no reason for the car's benefit. I am much less experienced with the Bolt than many others on this forum, but if it were mine I would leave it plugged in but at a lower charge, probably 50-60%. I think that's probably easiest on the battery.