[Brookline Bolter]

Hi

I'm a new Chevy Bolt owner, and I'm trying to plan out charging stops on an upcoming trip. I have a 2020 model Bolt.

Given my destination and the availability of chargers, I'm might be stopping at a DC fast charger to get from about 60% up to 80% charge level. Can anyone estimate how long that would take? Are we talking 30 minutes, 60 minutes, something else? We can assume warm weather.

I know there are a lot of variables, but any general thoughts would be helpful. I'm familiar with the concept of a charging curve, but don't want that translates to in practice, in terms of recharge time.

 

[p7wang]

You really don't want to start DCFC at 60%, DCFC up to 60% is better.

DC Fast Charging Performance

I've been refining my Bolt EV charging models and, with recent 100kW DCFC data from Norway, I now have a better set. These graphs may help people understand the Bolt EVs DC fast charging performance. It's important to note that these models assume optimal conditions; which are rare for us to...

www.chevybolt.org

 

[TFPDrive]

50% to 80% is about 30 minutes. So expect about 20-25 minutes assuming it is at least a 50 kW charger.

If that's the only stop available then it's what you have to do, but the ideal situation would be to arrive at a 100+ kW charger with less than 30% remaining. Then you'll only need about 15 minutes to charge. Though as you mention there's a lot of variables so take my use of "about" very strongly.

 

[ARob]

Generally, you want to run down to a lower SoC before plugging in to maximize the trip elapsed time.

The chart here is for pre-'19 models, newer models follow similar patterns, but more of a curve than step down.

As the chart suggests, the EVSE power level makes a difference, as does SoC. This is under "ideal" conditions, extreme temps will tend to require heating or cooling of the pack during charging, thus lowering the speed.

Basically, what this chart illustrates is that on 100A or greater DCFC (40kW or greater), you would expect to see about 38kW from 60-70%, then 24kW up to about 85%. At 38kW, you will get about 1 kWh per 2 minutes, at 24kW, 1kWh per 3-4 minutes.

 

[Brookline Bolter]

You really don't want to start DCFC at 60%, DCFC up to 60% is better.

DC Fast Charging Performance

I've been refining my Bolt EV charging models and, with recent 100kW DCFC data from Norway, I now have a better set. These graphs may help people understand the Bolt EVs DC fast charging performance. It's important to note that these models assume optimal conditions; which are rare for us to...

www.chevybolt.org

Yep, I realize that. Unfortunately the locations of the chargers relative to my destination might make this necessary.

 

[Bolt2019]

I see no problem with DCFC charging up to full. It tapers off to L2 amounts near the end anyway so you're spending all that time paying for minutes for little return. But the use of DCFC from 60 to 80 should be no problem. Just be aware of the taper. Sure you get your minutes money worth if you DCFC from low but y'gotta do what y'gotta do to get to your destination.

 

[Brookline Bolter]

Thanks all for the replies. I'm just looking for a general idea, and now I have it. The good news is that I found another DC charger that is 5 miles from my destination rather than 80 miles from my destination. So I'm in much better shape.

 

[micantony]

You really don't want to start DCFC at 60%, DCFC up to 60% is better.

DC Fast Charging Performance

I've been refining my Bolt EV charging models and, with recent 100kW DCFC data from Norway, I now have a better set. These graphs may help people understand the Bolt EVs DC fast charging performance. It's important to note that these models assume optimal conditions; which are rare for us to...

www.chevybolt.org

according to the time graph on this link, it should be about 25 minutes from 60% to 80% (45 minute mark to the 70 minute mark)

 

[Ste]

I did a full EA session 1-100% in our 2020 Bolt a couple of weeks ago for a baseline in moderate temperatures. We hit 60% 47 minutes in and 80% at 72 mins, so you're looking at about 25 minutes and a charge rate between 25-30 kW in that portion of the pack.

(Edit: just saw latest replies and you probably don't need it... still, glad this lines up with the graphs shared above! Happy Bolting!)

 

[NortonCommando]

When traveling with a Bolt you should look Abetterroutplanner.com. Give it a try for free.
It's amazing how much data you get from it for a big trip!

 

[greendave]

I did a full EA session 1-100% in our 2020 Bolt a couple of weeks ago for a baseline in moderate temperatures. We hit 60% 47 minutes in and 80% at 72 mins, so you're looking at about 25 minutes and a charge rate between 25-30 kW in that portion of the pack.

(Edit: just saw latest replies and you probably don't need it... still, glad this lines up with the graphs shared above! Happy Bolting!)

It's nice that the 2020 has a better charging curve, but it's a lot easier to calculate the values for the 2017-2019!
60-67% @ 37kW = 6.8 min
67%-80% @ 24kW = 19.5 min

So just a tad over 26 minutes. I guess the 2020 by virtue of have the bigger battery is doing better, though not by quite as much as I would have thought.

 

[DisneyDog]

When traveling with a Bolt you should look Abetterroutplanner.com. Give it a try for free.
It's amazing how much data you get from it for a big trip!

Can't thank you enough for the AbetterRouteplanner.com