[kns]

2019 Bolt EV Premier. Few weeks old. 500 miles. Noticed the same behavior when I lock doors. Similarly, remote start using the key fob causes the EVSE relay to pull in, drop and then pull in again. Neither of my 2012 or 2015 Volts did that. Unplugged the 2015 Volt one day and plugged in the Bolt the next. Immediately noticed the described behavior. The L2 EVSE is a 7.2kw CT500 that has functioned w/o a hiccup for about 8 years.

Only thing I can think of that would cause the described behavior is high resistance in the traction battery resulting in a voltage drop due to the temporarily increased load which in turn causes the charger to temporarily trigger the EVSE.

Anyone else experience this behavior? Any other thoughts on why it might occur?

Thanks in advance for any insights.

KNS

 

[GJETSON]

What you are referring to as remote start is called preconditioning. The drive electronics, and DIC do not come on...just the HVAC. Preconditioning definitely turns on the EVSE, even if the green light on the dash doesn't blink, but remains steady, indicating it is not charging. You can see this clearly using Torque Pro. The charger will put out just enough to offset whatever your HVAC is pulling.

As to the EVSE coming on with the door latches, I have never seen this on our 2017. But ours is a basic LT, with almost every setting option turned off.

 

[SparkE]

What you are referring to as remote start is called preconditioning.

Why is it called "preconditioning"? Did that term come from LEAF owners? Because the Chevy manual definitely refers to it as "remote start".

 

[ZoomZoom]

Why is it called "preconditioning"? Did that term come from LEAF owners? Because the Chevy manual definitely refers to it as "remote start".

The Chevy App on the Android phone platform calls it preconditioning for what that's worth. The app isn't as robust as I would like it to be but it does remote start the car nicely when I'm ready to leave in the winter, about the only time I use it.

 

[LooseBolt]

While the apps call it pre-conditioning, the sales literature, when I bought mine, called it remote start. When I first joined this forum I found the term confusing.

I have a Siemens Versicharge. I pretty much leave the Bolt plugged in all the time in the winter to keep the range to an acceptable level. In the morning before breakfast I use the precondition button on the remote. The Siemens lets out a nice loud clunk as it turns on to power the pre-condition. It’s an audible signal to tell me the car will be warmed and the windshield cleared of frost before leaving for work. That’s probably the best feature of the Siemens .

 

[Sibilance]

As for opening, shutting, locking or unlocking doors 'waking up' the EVSE, I can confirm this is exactly what happens with my GE Wattstation, and it did not occur with my 2014 Volt.

Am I worried about it? Nope.

New car, new quirks. I assume there's a good reason why this happens and nothing untoward has happened to my car or charger yet. However I'm at a point in my life where I have only so much care to spread around, honestly.

 

[GJETSON]

As others have mentioned, GM, as usual, is confused/conflicted about their EV. If you think it is a remote start, try driving it away.

 

[Dimitrij]

I don't know what kEVin does when I premotecondition it (from the app), because I not near the car when I do it (usually 10 minutes before I expect to get to the car). But preconditioning works correctly with my home EVSE and with all L2 stations I have used.

It's another thing that I can't figure out how to update the Vehicle Status on the same app

 

[JohnnyEV]

2019 Bolt EV Premier. Few weeks old. 500 miles. Noticed the same behavior when I lock doors. Similarly, remote start using the key fob causes the EVSE relay to pull in, drop and then pull in again. Neither of my 2012 or 2015 Volts did that. Unplugged the 2015 Volt one day and plugged in the Bolt the next. Immediately noticed the described behavior. The L2 EVSE is a 7.2kw CT500 that has functioned w/o a hiccup for about 8 years.

Only thing I can think of that would cause the described behavior is high resistance in the traction battery resulting in a voltage drop due to the temporarily increased load which in turn causes the charger to temporarily trigger the EVSE.

Anyone else experience this behavior? Any other thoughts on why it might occur?

Thanks in advance for any insights.

KNS

Back to the original issue and topic, I would look at the contacts on your J1772 plug. Depending on the type of connector it is possible that there is a "Loose" connection on one of the pins. I had a EVSE that worked for many years and then it would occasionally fail to charge one of my two Think City cars. It ended up being a contact in the connector that would arc because it was not making a good connection from being worn out over the several years of plugging and unplugging while charging two different EV's every day (and a low quality plug). I replaced the plug / cable assembly with one that had split pin receptacles and round spring clips over the pin and there was no more charging problems. Locking the doors may cause a small amount of vibration that may interrupt the power connection.... Just a guess, but a possible condition. Try "wiggling" the plug when it is plugged in and see if it drops out or you can hear any "arcing" with the movement of the plug. If so, it is the plug and will need to be replaced. Best of luck figuring it out and hope this test helps eliminate the possibility of a poor power cord connection.

 

[kns]

Update by the OP... I do not experience the same problem when using the OEM L1 EVSE. The dealer was unable to replicate the problem using one of their L2 EVSEs. The connections of my L2's J1772 plug are clean. Sibilance reported the same behavior with his GE Wattstation as I have seen with my CT500. Perhaps they are both sensitive enough to respond to the battery voltage change resulting from current drawn by the Bolt's lighting but not sensitive enough to respond to the Volt's. In any case, like Sibilance, I will try to ignore the extra 'clunks' each time i initiate a preconditioning cycle. Thanks all for the suggestions. KNS

 

[Sean Nelson]

Why is it called "preconditioning"? Did that term come from LEAF owners? Because the Chevy manual definitely refers to it as "remote start".

The parts of the Chevy manual that were cut and pasted from a version for an ICE vehicle refer to it as "remote start" because on an ICE vehicle that's what you need to do in order to get cabin heat or air. Not so on the Bolt, no matter what the manual says.