Hi all. I am new to the list, and pleased to announce I have pre-ordered my Volt. Can anyone help me answer the following three questions? Thanks in advance.

1. If you are charging a Volt overnight and the battery reaches its full capacity, does it continue to draw electricity from the outlet or is it intelligent enough to stop drawing?

2. Is it possible and safe to recharge a Volt faster than with a 120V wall outlet by using the 220V electric dryer outlet? Will I have to purchase a separate charge cord for 220V?

3. I've heard rumors about possible free charging stations from ECOtality and Coulomb. I live in San Diego. Does anyone know if they are indeed giving those away, and if so, how do I request one?

Thanks. Great, constructive website and user comments, BTW.

Hi VoltInSD, I'll take a shot at two of these...

1. While I can't cite a source, I'm certain that the car will stop drawing any significant current after the battery pack is fully charged. This is, of course, assuming "pre-conditioning" is not going on. I could see a few watts, for minor onboard functions or to simply monitor the electricity supply, but nothing like "charge in progress" levels.

Besides, there's always the "low tech solution." If you were using 110v charging, you could always use an inexpensive mechanical timer to shut off the flow of juice completely. But I seriously doubt this will be necessary.

2. GM requires that you use a hard-wired cordset to charge at the 220v level. No using the dryer outlet! Technically I guess you could jerry-rig it but it seems like a pretty bad idea. Not to mention, some sort of homebrew cordset will not be able to properly handshake with the SAE-J1772 connector, meaning charging will never commence.

3. Sorry, no idea about the charging station question.

Regards,
Mike-o

And lest I forget, CONGRATS on your Volt order!!

Everyone in the business strongly discourages you from using your actual dryer outlet. The reason: the plug and outlet are not designed to take that many plug/unplug cycles. How often have you plugged/unplugged your dryer? Once every 5 years? Now do it once a day, or even once a week (to do laundry). The plug will start to come apart and THAT is some lethal sh...

What the ... I posted an answer to your third question earlier today. Deleted? Maybe it was somebody else asking in another thread. Anyway:

http://www.google.com/searchq=gm+volt+free+charger

Thanks for the advice. My Volt dealer also indicated using the dryer outlet was not a good idea. :(

My bad. As a newbie, I posted once and didn't see it immediately, so I posted again.

Regarding the free charger, I've looked around and found little actual useful info. ECOtality has a form where you can express the type of interest - commercial use, personal use, etc., but the radio button choices include "personal use for Leaf" option, but not a "personal use for Volt" option... :(

Everyone in the business strongly discourages you from using your actual dryer outlet. The reason: the plug and outlet are not designed to take that many plug/unplug cycles. How often have you plugged/unplugged your dryer? Once every 5 years? Now do it once a day, or even once a week (to do laundry). The plug will start to come apart and THAT is some lethal sh...

What the ... I posted an answer to your third question earlier today. Deleted? Maybe it was somebody else asking in another thread. Anyway:

http://www.google.com/searchq=gm+volt+free+charger

Are we talking about "sharing" an outlet with a dryer? I have an unused "dryer" outlet in the garage. I thought the 220/240v option was a wall mounted unit that plugged into the outlet and stayed plugged in. The part that got unplugged was at the car end?

Are we talking about "sharing" an outlet with a dryer? I have an unused "dryer" outlet in the garage. I thought the 220/240v option was a wall mounted unit that plugged into the outlet and stayed plugged in. The part that got unplugged was at the car end?

Look at the Leviton Evr-Green charging station. It appears to plug into a "dryer" outlet. Their "pre-wire" kit has you install a standard outlet (20, 30 or 50 amp), into which the charging station plugs.

http://www.evrgreenchargers.com/PDFS/from%20john/Evr-Green%20Pre-Wire%20Kits.pdf

Plug-In Charging System Description and Operation

The Chevrolet Volt high voltage battery charging system consists of four main components: The electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE, or cord set), the vehicle charge port (including receptacle), the hybrid/drive motor battery charger (sometimes referred to as the onboard charge module, or OBCM), and the hybrid/drive motor battery itself (also referred to as the rechargeable energy storage system, or RESS). A variety of mechanical, visual and audio indicators / devices are used to communicate / interface with the customer or other user of the charging equipment.

The 120 V cord set provided with the vehicle is referred to as "Portable EVSE". This device features a standard U.S. type 120 V plug on one end and an SAE compliant plug designed to interface with the vehicle charge port receptacle on the other end. The cord set features a charge current interrupt device (CCID) with AC power, fault and missing ground indicators, and it is stored beneath the vehicle’s load floor. An optional 240 V cord set, or "Fixed EVSE" is also available to customers who want to reduce the amount of time needed to recharge the high voltage battery. The 240 V cord set is referred to as "fixed", because it is hard-wired to a 240 V power supply and mounted to the wall in the customer’s garage. The 240 V cord set features the same SAE compliant plug on the vehicle end as the 120 V device.

The vehicle receptacle is located behind a door on the charge port (driver’s side front fender). The receptacle is accessed by depressing a switch located on the inside of the driver’s door. Charge port illumination is used to display the status of the vehicle content theft deterrent (CTD) system as well as for customer convenience. When the cord set plug and receptacle are joined, the resulting configuration is referred to as a "coupler".

The hybrid/drive motor battery charger is a serviceable assembly containing several micro-processors, two separate high voltage chargers and a single low voltage charger. It is mounted behind the passenger’s side headlamp assembly and is flash programmable, communicating on both GMLAN and the High Voltage Energy Management Expansion bus. Engine coolant (DexCool) is used as a cooling medium to ensure that the charger does not exceed its maximum designed operating temperature. The low voltage charger is used to ensure that the 12 V battery does not become depleted during a charge event, while one the high voltage chargers is used with a 120 V charge source and both are used with a 240 V charge source.

The hybrid/drive motor battery is a liquid cooled, "T" shaped lithium-ion energy storage system located beneath the vehicle. The 360 V direct current battery is formed from 288 cells which are grouped together to form distinct blocks, referred to as sections. The battery is connected to the propulsion circuit or charging circuit using unique pairs of contactors. Both circuits cannot be "live" at the same time. In general terms, the main contactors will close when the ignition switch is in the "on" position. Charging events cannot be initiated when the main contactors are closed. The high voltage battery is also connected to two distinct low voltage "high voltage interlock circuits", one for propulsion, and one for charging. As with the contactors, the two HVIL circuits cannot be energized at the same time. The high voltage DC output from hybrid/drive motor battery charger is delivered to the high voltage battery through an HVIL protected connector at the front of the battery bulkhead/battery disconnect unit (BBDU). The charger fuse is also serviceable through an HVIL protected access cover on the BBDU.

The charging system is supervised and controlled by hybrid powertrain control module 2 (HPCM2). This controller is also referred to as the VICM (vehicle integration or interface control module). HPCM2 is a primary OBD controller, and all diagnostic trouble codes will set in that module (even though some of the diagnostics are actually run within the hybrid/drive motor battery charger). Charging events can be delayed at customer request to take advantage of lower rates during non-peak hours. The status of charging events (including delays) is communicated to the user through visual indications (instrument panel mounted charge status indicator or CSI ) and audio tones (charge status enunciator or CSE).

Rick, thanks much for that very complete description. I love it. But, from the pragmatic standpoint, there is still a fair amount of confusion about installing that 240 volt line. The physical cable/connector (did Rick call it EVSE?) would be bought mainly from GM and I've heard estimates that it should be in the neighborhood of $400 or less. Installing it to a 240 volt line is very low tech and I'd guess that any licensed electrician could do it (I'm pretty sure that I was the one who put in the 240 volt line to my clothes dryer). The "charging units" from third party vendors for the most part seem unnecessary for the Volt, but they are not out of play, mainly because there are quite a few reports that a large number of them will be given away.
Another related issue is this: what "kind" of 240 volt line do you install? What do I mean? Well, for example, I have a 240 breaker box in the garage near to where I would need the line for the Volt. It was put there in anticipation of installing a 240 air compressor that never got installed. I could use that (assuming it will support 30 amps) and then I would pay at the regular residential electric rate. But now there are several other options: one is time of day metering where you get charged for electricity at a cheaper rate in the wee hours of the morning -- be careful because this can make your bill go through the roof. There is another option: the electric vehicle rate and here there is enough confusion to go around for a good while (for me anyway) - there appear to be several flavors of this, one of which involves putting in a separate electric meter. Now, before you say "That's not expensive", yes it is - the meter is free, but it requires a new main line to enter the home, a new main control panel separate from everything already in the house, and lines that terminate near where you will use them. On top of this, for those early adapters that install this configuration the electric company might see fit to pay for all of the expensive stuff as an incentive. Another option in the local Detroit area is to just declare that you have an EV and they will add $40 to your bill (but does this still require an extra meter?)
With deference to Rick, the Volt part of this is cut and dried. Not so much yet for the utility company part.
And just a tidbit - the "smart" meters make it possible for the utility company to vary the rate that they charge you (pun?) on a second by second basis. Of course the public utility service commission will protect us from any unfair practices... ...won't they????

These issues involve the utility, your electrician, and possibly your local government's inspector, and THAT is the primary reason that GM is doing a phased rollout to markets. There's a lot of confusion out there, and it will take time to explain everything and get everyone comfortable with the EVSE installation process. And explain why you can't just unplug your dryer and plug in your car every day ...

GM will be giving chargers to the first 4400 buyers of the Volt.

http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/free-ev-charging-stations

You should email your order contact at GM and ask for information.