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Charge to 80 or 100% at Home?

9006 Views 82 Replies 37 Participants Last post by  GJETSON
I’ve had a 2023 Bolt for three months. Love it! I know there are lots of questions and responses about charging, but hopefully by this time the 80 vs 100% question has been answered. Here is my question: I currently charge to 80% although all my charging takes place at home using my L2 charger. I read that charging to 80% is the norm when charging at a public fast charger and understand why. However, the same article insinuated that it’s not necessary when charging at home where charging time is not an issue. That makes sense to me, however, if I decide to charge to 100% is the cost of electricity disproportionately higher when charging the last 10-20% because it takes longer to charge that last 10-20%? It makes sense that it would, so why spend more to charge that last 10-20% if I get enough range to meet my driving range needs at 80%? Am I looking at this correctly? Opinions?
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Will the Bolt allow you to set the normal charge to be 90%? I normally do 90% on my Mach-E, but perhaps 80% would be sufficient for my wife's Bolt for most days. I'm not sure how similar the Bolt phone app will be to the Fordpass app that I am used to. My Juicebox app can be set to anything, but I would prefer controlling it from the Bolt app or from the car - the Juicebox app stops the Juicebox from supplying the charge rather than controlling the charging from the car or app.
Will the Bolt allow you to set the normal charge to be 90%? I normally do 90% on my Mach-E, but perhaps 80% would be sufficient for my wife's Bolt for most days. I'm not sure how similar the Bolt phone app will be to the Fordpass app that I am used to. My Juicebox app can be set to anything, but I would prefer controlling it from the Bolt app or from the car - the Juicebox app stops the Juicebox from supplying the charge rather than controlling the charging from the car or app.
Depends. If you have a 2017-18, you can't set %charge directly; you "can" set "hilltop mode" which charges to about 90% so there's space in the battery for regen on the way out. Works exactly that way for me (2017 with the replaced battery). Newer ones (starting in 2019 I think) can be set to a range of charging limits, between 50(?) to 90%.
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Depends. If you have a 2017-18, you can't set %charge directly; you "can" set "hilltop mode" which charges to about 90% so there's space in the battery for regen on the way out. Works exactly that way for me (2017 with the replaced battery). Newer ones (starting in 2019 I think) can be set to a range of charging limits, between 50(?) to 90%.
Oh, sorry, I should set a signature line - I hope to have a 2023 as soon as tomorrow, so it sounds like 90% is possible - thank you!
Oh, sorry, I should set a signature line - I hope to have a 2023 as soon as tomorrow, so it sounds like 90% is possible - thank you!
You can set it to stop accepting a charge at 80% or 90%. The car will actually stop charging a couple percentage points BEFORE it reaches that threshold. (I set mine to 80% and it actually stops at 77-78%)
Most of the time mine gets to 80% if departure a few hours before I actually leave.
I am new to the Bolt/Bolt EUV cohort, but am loving my new EUV that I got home two weeks ago. I have a lot to learn about a charging regimen and had the same question as the OP...should I plug it in regardless of the SOC even though the owner's manual says to? I had set my charge limit to 80% SOC and most of my driving is local (30-50 miles round trip) so if I left home with 79% SOC, I would routinely return home around 66% SOC (~ 13%) so I wondered how I would ever get to the 75%-25% SOC discharge model without leaving it unplugged until I ran enough trips to get home with 25% SOC.
I keep my car plugged in at 80% target charge in cold days in the winter, so that the battery temp is more aggressively maintained. I know the main thing is to avoid long periods of time sitting at full charge. other than that I'm not particularly worried; I'm sure rust or a deer will doom the car long before the battery wears out, given where I live and how little I drive.

It's probably good for the battery to regularly drive it to 20% or so, and that's also probably good for the GOM accuracy. I just wouldn't spend a lot of time worrying about it.
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The Chevy Bolt is estimated to last between 300,000 – 400,000 miles before significant battery degradation affects its range and performance.Based on annual mileage of 15,000 miles, this equates to 20 – 26 years of service when properly maintained, charged correctly and driven conservatively.
I drive about 5,000 miles a year, so it looks like I won’t be worrying about my battery life.
Depends. If you have a 2017-18, you can't set %charge directly; you "can" set "hilltop mode" which charges to about 90% so there's space in the battery for regen on the way out. Works exactly that way for me (2017 with the replaced battery). Newer ones (starting in 2019 I think) can be set to a range of charging limits, between 50(?) to 90%.
Newbie here -- how do you set "hilltop mode?"
The Chevy Bolt is estimated to last between 300,000 – 400,000 miles before significant battery degradation affects its range and performance.Based on annual mileage of 15,000 miles, this equates to 20 – 26 years of service when properly maintained, charged correctly and driven conservatively.
I had a Bolt for 3 years and have been driving BEVs since end of July 2013. I've never heard this claim before. Then again, I wasn't really active here until maybe end of 2018. What's the actual source of this?

I do browse numerous EV news sites and I've never heard of gearshifters.org nor enginepatrol.com. I certainly wouldn't want to go out on a limb and make such bold assertions.

Every single Bolt built before the battery recall expanded to all Bolts in Aug 2021 is having its pack replaced, if it hasn't already. We haven't gotten any more news whether they've been able to identify bad modules in '20 to '22 Bolts (Chevy expands recall to include through 2022 chevy bolts...) but so far, the indications are no. They're replacing them on all '20 to '22 anyway.

Some folks have had pack failures prior to the recall (e.g. My Chevy Bolt Is On Third Battery Pack: Here's Why). Some have had them after pack replacement. Some w/new vehicles (built after production resumed) have also had pack failures.

Once car's pack is replaced, the "clock" on the pack is reset so we're going to be missing a fair amount of long term Bolt pack data.

Chevrolet Bolt EV Battery Production Resumes in Sept 2021 was when Bolt pack production resumed. Those were destined for recall replacements. Bolt production resumed in April 2022: GM Resumes Chevrolet Bolt EV/Bolt EUV Production but GM still isn't done replacing recalled packs. (Q4 2022 Recall Summary Report has US numbers only. I don't know about outside the US.)

Bolt came out Dec 2016. I guess you can count data from the oldest Bolts until when they got their packs replaced. The first Bolts to receive pack replacements to remedy the recall got theirs sometime in Oct 2021 and is still ongoing...

Besides gradual degradation of all the cells, something inside the pack could fail as could one or more cells.

That said, I will say that of the whatever data we have so far on Bolt packs, they don't generally appear to have horrible degradation in the time span that we've known about them. Examples of bad include Leaf packs built before 4/2013 (total crap) and Leafs in hot climates that were prior to model year '15 or the (pretty sketchy) 30 kWh Leaf packs. I had two Leafs spanning 8 years and still keep up with what's going on over there.
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Newbie here -- how do you set "hilltop mode?"
'19 and newer Bolts don't have hilltop reserve. They have a much nicer target charge level screen. I owned '19 for 3 years. It was basically selectable from 40 to 100% in 5% increments. There weren't actual % labels for the screen though. Skip to ~1:45 of the video at Video Overview: 2019 Chevy Bolt Gives Drivers More Control.

'17 and '18 Bolts didn't have that. They only had hilltop reserve on/off. Off = 100%. On = 88%.

For '22+ Bolts, the UI on the infotainment system is totally different but I've never had a '22+. You should be able to find the equivalent screen.
The Chevy Bolt is estimated to last between 300,000 – 400,000 miles before significant battery degradation affects its range and performance.Based on annual mileage of 15,000 miles, this equates to 20 – 26 years of service when properly maintained, charged correctly and driven conservatively.
I only drive about 5,000 miles/year so that means my battery should last 60 - 78 years. I need to take better care of myself. My car is going to outlast me! 😄
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Newbie here -- how do you set "hilltop mode?"
Hey Penny. You don't have "hilltop mode." Instead, you have "Target Charge Level." It is described on p. 96 of the owner's manual. Ask if you need clarification.
Newbie here -- how do you set "hilltop mode?"
Welcome to the board. Hilltop is on the Settings tab under the Green Energy tab on the center console. Can be set to be on all the time or separated between Home and Away (Home needs to be set separately).

I just turned mine off to do a charge as my L2's plug unfortunately melted in the socket. So, it's public charging until I can get a new connector and socket attached.

ga2500ev
I just turned mine off to do a charge as my L2's plug unfortunately melted in the socket.
Do you know why it melted?
Do you know why it melted?
Bad pin socket connection overheated. It's the fundamental problem with using residential electrical equipment. I bought locking 6-30s from Hubbell as replacements.

ga2500ev
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The Bolt does ONE thing i don't see any other EV on the market do.....set SOC limit in (5%) increments. I set mine to 85% (because you'll notice that it never fully reaches set point (i've seen 82%, 83% and once briefly 84%). which leads me to believe that if you set to 80%, you'll only get to 77-78%

By chance does anyone know where the thread was on battery calibration? It's the one where someone asked and it involved charging to 100%, let it sit for 2 hours, then drive down to 20% ( i think leave there for couple hours), then charge back up to normal (80%). If anyone knows which thread it was...hard to recall what the title was.

I've had my ice blue '22 since Aug 30 at (3) miles and has never been below 30% and only at 100% twice (dealer set to 100% at pick up) and once for trip to Charlotte. DCFC'd from 38-71. 130 miles took it down to 31%

Great info from this group. Great forum.
The Bolt does ONE thing i don't see any other EV on the market do.....set SOC limit in (5%) increments. I set mine to 85% (because you'll notice that it never fully reaches set point (i've seen 82%, 83% and once briefly 84%). which leads me to believe that if you set to 80%, you'll only get to 77-78%

By chance does anyone know where the thread was on battery calibration? It's the one where someone asked and it involved charging to 100%, let it sit for 2 hours, then drive down to 20% ( i think leave there for couple hours), then charge back up to normal (80%). If anyone knows which thread it was...hard to recall what the title was.

I've had my ice blue '22 since Aug 30 at (3) miles and has never been below 30% and only at 100% twice (dealer set to 100% at pick up) and once for trip to Charlotte. DCFC'd from 38-71. 130 miles took it down to 31%

Great info from this group. Great forum.
The direct post is here:

It's linked as item #6 in the stickied post about battery replacements here:
Newbie here -- how do you set "hilltop mode?"
IF YOU HAVE AN OLD BOLT (2017-2018 - at this point, did you just buy it used?): Energy>Energy Settings on the infotainment screen. Look for "hilltop reserve."

OTHERWISE: see others above for accessing the %charge settings screen.

The purpose of "hilltop reserve" in the old ones was not to offer a lower SoC setting for battery preservation. It was to ensure that there would be some room in the battery to absorb regeneration if you start off uphill from wherever you go, as in fact I do. If you charge all the way to 100%, there's only a tiny amount of leftover capacity (yes, there's some), after which the friction brakes are all you have.

Toyota, btw, does "hilltop" by default: battery management in a Prius holds a SoC about a bar (on the dash gauge) below the maximum in normal driving so there's room for regen going down hills, then, if it does fill all the way (the ICE starts to provide braking when that happens), it aggressively uses the electric motor for a while to get it back down to normal.
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For over five years I have heard pushback from folks who don't like the idea that lithium ion batteries have limitations. Finally, GM has a call center, with folks who will answer your questions! So it effects your battery, but not your warranty. :)

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Penny has a new Bolt I think.

The battery will degrade based on time so don't plan on any 68 year plan. The current battery technology is doomed to failure and hopefully will be replaced with much better battery technology.
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