[George Knighton]

I think the Volt EVSE was using the same components as Clipper-Creek.

People familiar with both GM and Clipper Creek say that the internals of the 2017-2021 Bolt OEM EVSE are very closely related to Clipper Creek.

I have a 2020 Bolt EV, and I have three EVSE.

(1) Grizzl-E dumb unit, set to 40 amps, and the car keeps it at 32 amps, 7.7 kW. Wiring for the NEMA 14-50 in the garage was so easy that my contractor didn't even charge for it because he had all the parts in his truck.

He delivered a caution, however: There's a wide range of NEMA 14-50 available, most of which seem relatively cheap and it's tempting to save money.

However, most of these are not designed for long duty cycles that might be associated with EV charging. Don't skimp on the price of the 14-50, IMHO.

Although he had heavy wiring with him, he only had a 40 amp breaker, and if I buy a different car I'll open the Grizzl-E and make sure it's set to 32 amps. That's enough unless I do something dumb like get a Hummer or something. (Very unlikely.)

(2)I ran across a 2022-2023 Bolt EUV dual voltage charger and picked that up at a good price. Its delivers 32 amps, and I think that the 7.7 kW it provides you should be enough for anybody even though your EUV can take 48 amps and 11.5 kW.

It's a high quality unit and I'm impressed with it. The handle is rubberised and you have the feeling from handling it that it will last a long time. The plugs need to be seated firmly into the housing to avoid an error message but once you understand this, it's not a problem.

I like this a lot. However, since it's intended to be a portable EVSE, you will need to think about a wall mount for it if this is your permanent EVSE, and you might want to think about a holster, because the handle does not include a cover for the terminals.

Both these things are available on Amazon for very little money, and for most of us this is just enough.

(3)Because my car is a 2020, I still have the OEM 120 volt, 12 amp charger. I have a two plug solution that converts it to 240 volt, but of course it's still limited to 12 amps. I keep this in the car in case I need it, but it's only going to deliver 3 kW (indicated). Still, that's better than 120 volts, right?

IMHO, the best solution for the original poster is just to buy a cheap holster and cheap adjustable mount for the OEM EVSE housing, and stick with this.

Although it is only 32 amps, it is sturdy, high quality and won't tax the 14-50 if the contractor goes cheap. In my experience most of us use only about 50% of the Bolt's battery in one day, so the 7.7 kW provided at 32 amps is only going to take four hours to fully charge back the battery.

 

[George Knighton]

There's Sandy Munro going totally slam off about cheap NEMA 14-50 installations.

Not his best video, but he makes his point.

 

[George Knighton]

... if I were buying one today, to get either the 40 or 48 amp model for future proofing as those seem to be the charging speeds that make the most sense for the newer models of electric vehicles.

The difference between 40 and 48 amp units is that you should hard wire the 48 amp unit.

Something that's got me a little paranoid is the new GM standard that calls for delivering 80 amps (19.2 kW) over a J1772 connection. In the future, more of their cars will have this capability.

I hope that people are reasonable about what their homes can handle.

Too many EVSE sold on Amazon and eBay don't even have a UL listing.

I am thinking best to charge at slower rates to keep heat build up to a minimum?
How does the Bolts automatic cooling work while plugged in?

In the summertime up here in NoVA, you can hear the car gurgling and whirring as the battery thermal management is working, usually if I've had to drive a longer distance that has taken more than 50% of the battery.

The thermal management seems to do okay even when the garage's temperature gets up around 105.

 

[George Knighton]

That's a lot of questions! LOL....

Thanks for all the replies so far. Reading through them I am leaning towards using the supplied ESVE as the most cost effective solution along with the free 220 outlet Chevy install offer.

Since you already have it, that makes sense. 32 amps will be less taxing on your circuits, sure, although you might want to ask the electrician if you could install a higher than 40 amp breaker and heavier wiring, to future proof your installation...somewhat.

Personally 40 amps is okay for me, for probably a couple of years more.

How does this quote for the 220 outlet install look? my thread about quote from Chevy.

That's well within the range of cheaper installations I've heard of. It'd be hard for any of us to critique in detail without being there, but it is certainly well inside the cheaper range.

Is it also better for the Bolts battery to charge at a lower rate? Especially in higher temperatures like Phoenix never ending summer?

]
Probably. Eric Way and others believe that it was GM's deliberate decision to limit charging speeds, and that the batteries are capable of taking more if they wanted to do it.

The 7.7 kW AC rate is because that's what the onboard charger will do. The 55 kW DCFC rate is a little more complicated, but the fact that GM has loads of 150 amp CCS1 connectors might have something to do with it.

Does the Bolt need to be plugged in for active thermal management to turn on when the car is off. If so can I assume the the supplied ESVE will work?

It does not need to be plugged in, but if you leave it plugged in the car will be more aggressive with its thermal management, and the OEM EVSE is fine for that.

As suggested I will probably get holders for the box and cable something like this?
Amazon.com: BougeRV Buddle Items - SAE J1772 EV Charger Holder + EV Charging Box Holder : Automotive

That looks good. I just bought one myself, in case I end up installing the OEM dual level charger somewhere. Thanks for linking.

 

[George Knighton]

1a) If you do get a 14-50 - Hubbell brand only

Hubbell is certainly one of the very high quality outlets more suited for long duty cycles. It might increase the amount of your estimate considering that the outlet's about 100.00.

I don't see a need to hard wire if you're 40 amps and below. You never know when you might want to make an EVSE change for some reason...maybe you'll decide you want WiFi and Bluetooth at some point.

If you decide later in life to have an EV that you want to charge at 48 amps - 80 amps, it'll be easier to hard wire because the conduit is already there. If you need heavier wire, the line's already there to thread it.

At the stage you and I are right now, I just don't see a need to hard wire.

Your correspondent is correct in his statement about metal conduit and copper wire.

It sounds to me like you're doing enough research to know what you're doing, now. ;-)

 

[George Knighton]

Goodness. We pay less than that at EVGo.