Hi. I have a new 2012 WDM Volt. Love it.

My car used to take under 10hrs to charge; then I received a call from my dealer to exchange my charger for the new style charger.

It's now taking me over 12hrs to charge.

Example. Last night I drove 42 miles on full electric. When I pulled into the garage I still had 4mi of range at 11:30pm. As I turn the car off, the system tells me that I'll expect a full charge by 9:45am. I plug the car in.

Fast forward to today, at noon I go to the garage, turn the car on, it tells me that I'll have a full charge at 12:45pm.

What's the deal? Anyways else seen this?



Should also be noted when I woke up Friday to go into work, the battery had only charged to 65%. So I called the Volt advisor, who was pretty helpful. They suggested I monitor the battery usage and timing over the next few days and then follow up.

The charger seems like the culprit here. And that will be the easiest to fix. I only have a single outlet in my garage, so I don't have another outlet I can try.

I bet your old one was set to 12 amps and the new one is at 8 amps.

There should be instructions on the "chargers" cord.

From the manual http://www.chevrolet.com/owners/chevy-manuals/ :


Two charge levels are available by pressing the charge level button. Select reduced or normal level.
The charge level cannot be changed when the vehicle plug is plugged into the charge port on the vehicle. If the charge level button is pressed while the vehicle plug is plugged into the charge port on the vehicle, the charge level indicators will flash briefly.

To change the charge level, unplug the vehicle plug from the charge port on the vehicle and select the desired charge level.

Normal Level [12 amp]: This level is recommended. All four charge level indicators will be lit.

Reduced Level[8 amp]: Use when the electrical current is limited. Two charge level indicators will be lit.

Thanks for the note. There are no instructions to be found on the charger cord. There was a 66 page instruction manual that was included with it, but that is instructions for mounting the backer plate. In 18 different languages.

I'm off to do some more google-fu and see if I can figure how to determine the amperage.

Just saw your ninja edit. Nice.


That's exactly the issue.

Thanks!

By the way, congrats. Another Minnesota Volt. :)

Thanks. They are still quite the rare sight in MN.

I just picked up the upgraded charger from the dealer on Friday. So far, I haven't noticed charging taking an longer with the new charger.

Thanks. They are still quite the rare sight in MN.

Yup pretty rare still. I've seen 4 on the road other than mine so far in the last year or so of watching for them.

I just picked up the upgraded charger from the dealer on Friday. So far, I haven't noticed charging taking an longer with the new charger.

Right. Per the above notes, mine was in 8amp mode (slow charge). I pressed the orange button on the charger and that changed it to 12amp (standard charge).

All is well in the world.

@ topher,

Glad to hear you have you got it figured out and you are charging normally again!

Right. Per the above notes, mine was in 8amp mode (slow charge). I pressed the orange button on the charger and that changed it to 12amp (standard charge).Just a footnote to anybody trying to switch charge rate, without success, I believe you have to remove the J1772 plug from your car before you can toggle the mode.

You should see two green rate LEDs on the EVSE when it's in 8-amp mode, and all four LEDs for 12-amp mode.

is there any benefit to purposely charging in 8amp mode(besides circuit breaker load), assuming one has the time for a longer charge? Less, wasted energy from heat(probably balanced out by longer charger)? anything?

is there any benefit to purposely charging in 8amp mode(besides circuit breaker load), assuming one has the time for a longer charge? Less, wasted energy from heat(probably balanced out by longer charger)? anything?

Actually, faster charges are more efficient (less overhead time/power,) and the Volt's TMS manages any potential heat issues. The only reason I know of to use 8 amps is a system that can't take 12. (Most other portable EVSE's don't include the 8 amp option at all.)

is there any benefit to purposely charging in 8amp mode(besides circuit breaker load), assuming one has the time for a longer charge? Less, wasted energy from heat(probably balanced out by longer charger)? anything?

Should be the opposite: more charge time means more heat loss and less efficient charging.

Both of my charger cord has several plastic pages of information tye-wrapped to the handle with charging information and amperage setting. Are the dealers removing these or are people throwing them away because they looked at the side not in English?

Anyone have a PDF of that information all I have are iPhone pictures of the pages.