Welcome to the forum! Sounds like a great opportunity to move in with your daughters.

To answer your 2 main questions:
1. Yes, you can charge the Bolt at 24A (maximum for a 30A circuit due to electrical code requirements for continuous loads). It would be more than enough for your usage. 150 miles / week in a mild climate would use about 40 kWh, which could be charged in about 7 hours (ie, overnight). Or, in about an hour each day. In fact, you could probably get away with Level 1 charging (120V x 12A) overnight every day.

2. No, the EVSE that comes with the Bolt cannot be limited to 24A out of the box. However, you can purchase a 14-30 pigtail for it from GM . Alternatively, you can purchase a different EVSE that is designed for 24A or can be adjusted to 24A.

Enjoy your new Bolt!

 

You can buy an EVSE (for about $100) that plugs into a 6-20 outlet, to charge at 240 volts, 16 amps. This will require much less expensive outlet feed wire and not put such a strain on the casita electrical panel, while still charging at half the rate of the Bolt’s standard L2 charge rate. This arrangement would still be about 2.66 times faster than the charge speed of L1 at 120 volts, 12 amps.

A 6-20 outlet a reasonable distance from the electrical panel could be fed with 12/2 wire and a 2 pole 20 amp breaker, 10/2 wire if desired. That’s a lot less expensive than 6/3 wire feeding a 14-50 outlet.

 

Or, you can use the OEM Dual-voltage EVSE in such a way that will give you 12A at 240V...by making a cheap "adapter" that goes from a 5-15R to whatever 240V plug works for your situation. I'd further recommend the above 6-20 setup.

Do note that this adapter will put 240V on a 120V receptacle, so you'll need to proceed with caution.

 

We charge on a 20a circuit using a 16a charger (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09YTYBYNG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1) with a 6-20 outlet at 240 volts. We were greatly limited by the 100a service on the house, etc., as you're describing.

Your driving profile fits nicely into what you're looking at (and what we've done). Good luck and welcome to the club.

 

I think too many people think of charging an EV as being something like fueling a gas car. You got to get it done in a hurry. A better analogy might be charging an electric toothbrush or cordless tool. It isn’t really about how long it takes to charge; it is about having enough charge when you need it. Slow charging is irrelevant if the car has sufficient charge for the task at hand when needed. This is why so many folks practice ABC (always be charging). If my Bolt is home, it is plugged in. It is set to only charge to 85%, so once it reaches that it stops. Run 5 miles to the store and come home, plug in. Run around town all day, come home plug in. Every morning it is ready to go. There is one advantage of faster charging, you can schedule it for when the rates are lowest. I only charge between midnight and 6 AM, and even my 16 Amp EVSE usually finishes before the 6 AM cutoff.

 

congrats and welcome! idk what a casita is, but it sounds very hacienda to me 🙂

your driving is very much like ours, and instead of thinking i need to get to 80% very quickly, think about plugging in to L1 whenevr you're not driving, and consider limiting the charge to something around 50%. this would be much better for battery longevity as well.

if that doesn't work for you, don't forget to apply for the Qmerit free charging circuit install. even though it is 50 amps, i have my old 16a evse plugged into it. i get plenty of miles in just a few hours.

all the best!

 

We built a backyard casita for my parents, as well. I hope it works out well for you all!

Maybe it would make more sense to run the EVSE off the main panel instead of the casita panel. It is all on the same meter, right? That’s how ours is, the ADU rules require it to run off the same utilities.

 

Find me any UL or ETL certified EVSE for $100 and I'll eat my words.

 

I did L1 for about a month before moving up to a 32amp L2. I have a 40mi commute, and L1 was fine for that in warmer weather, so for your 100-150mi it may be a non-issue.
Also, I got my Bolt used, so not familiar with QMerit, but are their installs 50a or nothing? Would they would be able to quote you a 30a service?

 

The installs are not 50 amp or nothing. I had a QMerit contractor come out this week to see what would work for a charger outlet in my 1958 mid-century modern home with three electrical panels, none of which are close to the garage where the charging needs to take place. Running a 50 amp line from the main panel to the garage would involve about 125 ft of wiring and conduit, which was going to be three or four times the $1,000 QMerit allowance.

When we enclosed our carport into a garage recently, we had a 240 volt 20 amp circuit put in with the idea of installing a mini split air conditioner outside the garage to cool the garage in our Florida summers.

We never installed the mini split, so that wiring is outside the garage with nothing connected to it. The installer is going to come out in a week or two to run that wiring back into the garage put in a standard 10-30 outlet wired to that circuit. I have a 16 amp level 2 charger coming from Amazon tomorrow that has a 10-30 plug. Qmerit's contractor agreed to do the install for the $1,000 allowance. My only cost is the $150 for the charger.

 

150 miles per week is 30-60 kwh a week. At 120V 12 amps, that's about 25-50 hours a week. So plugging it in while you sleep at level 1 will probably replenish whatever you use on a given day.

 

If your daughters want to limit it to a 30 amp circuit, then buy and HARDWIRE an EVSE that is set for 24 amp draw (Grizzl-E for one example has adjustable DIP switches so you can set it for 16, 24, 32 or 40 amps depending on the circuit - always set it to at most 80% of the breaker). Keep the GM EVSE in your car as a back up for travelling.

FYI - the 120 volt charging on the Bolt is either 8 amps or 12 amps. No other option. So for a back up at your daughter's house, have them put in a 20 amp 120 volt circuit for the outdoor plug, just in case you want to run the GM EVSE at 120 volts and 12 amps. Sure, a 15 amp circuit will do fine as well, but 20 amp circuits are safer and better for outdoor receptacles.

 

No sense putting in a dedicated 120 V circuit for an EVSE. Do 240 V if you're adding a new circuit.

 

Since they indicated a 30 amp circuit, 240v is a given.

 

@Raxstone, you suggested they put in a 20 A, 120 V circuit. That's what I was responding to.

 

You didn’t read my post. I said to HARDWIRE an EVSE for the 30 amp circuit. Where in that statement do you see a 120v receptacle?

Since with the 100 amp feed, they only plan for a 30 amp circuit for the EV charger, they will obviously have other circuits as well. THOSE should be 20 amp 120v circuits. Not 15 amps. Then if needed it could be a BACKUP source for the GM EVSE if needed. It would also be better for supporting higher draw tools like table saws, planers, etc if they want to do hobby projects.