Which charger is best for the Volt.

[beechnut]

I put a deposit down on my Volt last week here in Oregon. My local dealer will be getting two mine and a demo. I hope to see my 2012 in the fall. Here are my questions;

First, of the four chargers recomended by chevrolet, which is the best for the Volt?

I understand the Voltec and SPX Level 2 are smaller and require a 20 amp breaker. The ECO Blink and the ChargePoint require a 40 amp breaker and seem to have higher amperage. Do these higher amperage chargers make a difference in any way such as charging times, safety, battery protection, etc.? I am a little retarted when it comes to this stuff. Any help or explanations would be much appreciated.

Second, If the smaller amperage chargers are equal, then, what is the best way to measure Kw input into the car. I would like to be able to accurately measure the electric fuel cost of this outstanding car!

Thanks for your help!

[Rusty]

Do these higher amperage chargers make a difference in any way such as charging times, safety, battery protection, etc.?

Nope. Not with the Volt or the MY '11 Leaf. Both cars limit the charge rate at 3.3 kW, which translates to a bit less than 14 amps.

The MY '12 Leaf, and the Ford Focus(i) will charge at 6.6kW, and would like the larger EVSE. Likewise if you have a Tesla Model S in your future, you'll want the larger EVSE. The smaller ones would work with those cars, they'd just charge slower (though it's not exactly sure how much slower).

[Sheffield]

Second, If the smaller amperage chargers are equal, then, what is the best way to measure Kw input into the car. I would like to be able to accurately measure the electric fuel cost of this outstanding car!

You would need a second power meter installed in order to measure the charging of the Volt.

[WVhybrid]

I understand the Voltec and SPX Level 2 are smaller and require a 20 amp breaker.

No matter which charge station you buy, you should fuse the circuit for 20 amps to protect the battery from overload in case of a failure. Fusing at a higher amperage won't charge the car any faster than 3.3 kW, and may put your car, your garage and you family at a very, very slightly higher risk of an on board thermal failure. If for any reason the Volt pulls more than 20 amps you really, really want the breaker to trip.

You can always switch to a bigger breaker when you buy your Tesla.

WVhybrid

[larry4pyro]

You can always switch to a bigger breaker when you buy your Tesla.

WVhybrid

If you increase the size of your breakers, make sure the wiring is up to handling the higher current, otherwise you could be creating a serious safety hazard.

[Mark Z]

If I remember correctly, there are fuses in the Volt that would cut the circuit. The Volt has to be designed for public charging stations that are higher amperage.

While the Voltec 240 volt charge station is the favorite, it does have a coiled cord that some don't like.

[Noel Park]

While the Voltec 240 volt charge station is the favorite, it does have a coiled cord that some don't like.

I agree that the coiled cord is a bit irritating, but at least it's easier to stow than the straight on on the 110v charger. Anyway, your comment about the cord made me remember that I had forgotten to plug the car in this morning and I just ran out and did it. Thanks!

[N Riley]

I agree that the coiled cord is a bit irritating, but at least it's easier to stow than the straight on on the 110v charger. Anyway, your comment about the cord made me remember that I had forgotten to plug the car in this morning and I just ran out and did it. Thanks!

Where is that handy email reminder when you need it? Just forgot, huh? Aren't you glad you have that range extender for those times you don't get reminded to "plug-in"?

[beechnut]

You would need a second power meter installed in order to measure the charging of the Volt.

That's the intesting thing, the way I read it the Blink and Chargepoint have meters built in and as well as high amperage. If I go with the lower amp Voltec or SPX then no meter, but I could add one like this for about $90.

http://www.powermeterstore.com/crm_u..._datasheet.pdf

Anyone have experience with these types of digital meters, or recomendations?

[rhellie]

I have had a Coulomb CT 500 EV Level 2 charging station installed under the DOE program. It was very expensive, but in the end I am satisfied with it. The charger worked great for two weeks, then the display indicated it had a failed a ground fault interupt self-test. The charger display also supplied a phone number to call for help. I called Coulomb who started making calls to SPX and within a week I had a new charging unit installed for no additional cost. So far I have not had any additional problems. The advantage to the CT 500 is the it links with chargepoint to give you easy access to your charging data. I can see how long I've charged, how many Kwh were used, and how many kg of green house gas were saved (not sure how this figured since it is not known how the electricity was produced). Knowing the Kwh used for each charge is important information for me so that was the reason I went with this charging station. The information can be downloaded to a spreadsheet for any other manipulation one might want.

There is a 3-year warranty on the Coulomb CT 500 and, given my experiene, I am glad of it. My experience with Coulomb has been great, SPX was not so straight forward but they eventually came through. Needless to say, it is very nice to be able to charge the Volt so much faster with 240v. I doubt than any of the four units mentioned is any faster that the other at 240 volts.