New designed 110volt charger just released

[BAZINGA]

I bought our 2012 Volt on 3/31 and asked if all the "customer satisfaction" items were addressed and it turns out only the new 110V charger/cord was still open, so on Monday April 2nd they ordered the new charger/cord. Dealer called me yesterday to let me know it was in and that I needed to return the old one. BTW that was fast turn around that I didn't anticipate or expect.

I just returned from the dealer with the new improved Charger/Cord assembly. The only differences I could see when looking at both of them side by side are:

1. The short plug is now all black instead on orange with a black plug
2. The cable it self is visibly larger in diameter than the old one
3. The relief's are identical

While I didn't have any issues with the old one (and lord knows I tried to find them) it's good to know GM is being pro-active and doing the right thing and addressing these little issues right away.

Kudo's to GM and my dealer (Jack Schmitt Chevrolet O'Fallon IL) for being so responsive and putting the customer first.

Tom
USAF Retired

[jeffhre]

Please Note - beware: I got my new cord three days ago. Plugged it in that nite, went out a hour later to check it and it was hot (Not warm) so I disconnected it and put the old one back in use. I took the new cord back to the dealership and they said they would check it out. My Volt is a 2012 which I got in December, have not had the updates done yet.
The dealership had to order a battery table to lower the batteries. If the batteries are twisted when lowering, they could be cracked and therefore ruin the whole setup.

You may need to replace your outlet at the wall and or set charging at 8 amps.

[Cord]

Who is going to be first to take it apart :-)

We have pictures of the older one.

[Joe_Linux]

IMHO, GM should replace them all, its a horrible design internally and the use of 16awg end to end is just down right risky. I suspect GM finally opened some up and had GM internal designers reviewing it, and with those results realized it presents to much of a risk, last thing gm needs is having a charger start a fire

I agree it is a horrible design, and the 240 volt version is just as bad or worse. What I dislike about the 110 volt version is the much too short wall side 16 awg cord. If the chord would have been 4 to 6 feet long, it would be much better. In my particular situation, I'm unable to properly hang the charging unit near the outlet in the car port. I have to add and extension cord. The only cord I had that wouldn't get hot is a 25 foot 12 awg. I would have gladly cut up my extension cord and used it to extend the wall side cord, but I found it impossible to open up the case of the charging unit. It appears to be glued together. Very end user unfriendly, in my opinion. As for the the 220 -240 volt unit, it is very combersome. I have a carport, not a garage, and with all the copper theives operating in Hawaii, I don't want to leave it unattended out in the carport. The massive flying saucer canister is massively oversized if you want to move it in and out. I also hate the curly chord as I dislike them in general and the in the case of this unit it is much longer than I need, and as a result is very heavy and unwieldy to move about. I would have preferred something smaller and more flexible in terms of installation. In my case, I have an 8 ft. 10 awg chord installed to the supply side, which is plugged into a 30 amp dryer outlet. The actual breaker is just 20 amp, although the wiring is 10 awg. (Larger wire on smaller breaker which is very safe) Interestingly, I noticed the curly chord that plugs into the car was getting warm, where as the 10 awg chord I put on was completely cool. What would be in order would be the "nozzle" and standard straight cord that could be ordered to length. The electronic box should be switchable between 110 and 220 volts, with and adapter for the 240 volt cord the enable it to be plugged into a 110 volt outlet. In other words one charging unit that came with the car, that could be used in more or less all circumstances rather than two different units that a both costly and clumsy.

[Joe_Linux]

Okay, Office Depot to the rescue. I found a rolling plastic box sold by Office Depot. The big disk 240 volt charger is able to fit inside. Linked are some photos of the setup. Picture 351 shows the big black male connector to the dryer outlet. The box on the right is a disconnect for the PV solar panels on the roof of the house, and the covered outlets on the left are standard 110.

http://www.joelinux.net/Chevy_Volt_2...Charging_Unit/

[kdawg]

What happens if you plug the charger that comes with the Volt into 240V? (don't have it in front of me, does it have the voltage ratings on it?)

[Henry_FL]

The 120V ESEV will go up in smoke, its not designed for 240V operation

[cmr]

What happens if you plug the charger that comes with the Volt into 240V? (don't have it in front of me, does it have the voltage ratings on it?)

on an north american volt..... no. the plug won't fit but if you did do it i am sure it would fry something in it.......it's really sad because in peru, (i have another home there) everything is 240v and my sony and cannon cameras plug right in to charge.... every electrical there is already 240 and true world wide products we buy here are ok for 120v and 240v, it will tell you on the ul sticker. the charge box that comes with a volt could have been done tha same way for probably less than .20 cents.....

[Steverino]

But that would have destroyed an entire aftermarket industry of selling and installing 240V charging stations at $5000 per unit. Gotta love the US auto industry for figuring out how to sell an extension cord for $5000.

I paid $500 for my Voltec 240v charge unit, plus $150 in materials. If I already had a 240v outlet to plug into, then I would have spent just $500 (or, if the portable charge cord was 120v/240v, $0)

$5000 would be extreme and unusual. Since 240v units range from $500-$1000, it implies that wiring for 240v will be needed where there is none now. So if the charge cord could be plugged into 240v, it would still need the $4000-$4500 wiring expense in that scenario.

[saghost]

But that would have destroyed an entire aftermarket industry of selling and installing 240V charging stations at $5000 per unit. Gotta love the US auto industry for figuring out how to sell an extension cord for $5000.

That just makes the Tesla that much more affordable - their Model S portable charge cord is universal and perfectly happy at 240V - right up to 10kW if plugged into a 14-50 outlet like RV parks use. All they need is a little range extender package that drops into the frunk... (But I'm sure that's not the direction they're thinking.)