Will the Chevrolet Volt be a failure or a success?

The main gm-volt forum was filled for years with people posting anticipated $/mile calculations. They all assumed 8 kwh from the wall, and not a person at GM ever bothered to say something different, or at least point out that GM might be talking about energy from the battery and not energy from the wall.

Whether lying by omission or in their customer's face, GM can be trusted about as far as I can spit.

Keep the quote, mfennel. Seawolf has nothing to worry about.

 

I actually am the Delaware forum member they quoted about the burn. I'm pretty sure I posted something about it in here as well (possibly this thread).

GM replaced the original EVSE with a new one, it looked the same but the dimensions seemed slightly different. It was so close I wasn't completely sure it wasn't my imagination, but particularly when stowing it in the compartment it seemed to fill up the space a little more than it had before. Anyway that one developed a fault within a week and was replaced by yet another one that I haven't had any problems with since.

Overall customer service dealing with the whole thing was really great and I felt well attended to. They took the Volt in for a few days to investigate the incident and gave me a loaner Cruze. I haven't had any problems with the latest EVSE and it stays much cooler to the touch.

FYI The author of the article never tried to contact me through the forum to confirm the story or for additional information about the incident. This article is just digesting forum posts, but I've seen this article already used as a reference in another on the same topic. Journalism has reached a sad state indeed.

 

The upside is, the EV range will be consistent. The downside is, the battery death would be quick and accelerated.

 

Actually, yes you did post that information. My understanding is the charging cord was the issue, it was then changed to an automotive grade charging cord and there were no issues with the charging system.

Well, the article gives the impression that this is going on right now while the issue has since been resolved.

 

True, but the battery is past warranty, so who cares ? Certainly not GM

 

The Volt's concept spec called for 10 years / 150k miles warranty. It was reduced to 8 years / 100k miles in the production version. GM openly admitted that the battery needs improvement to achieve 10 years / 150k miles warranty to qualify for AT-PZEV.

 

Did the new cable resolve the 2nd degree burn temp issue?

 

Yes the cable I have now is doing much better and running a lot cooler. Even before the burn incident there were other days when I noticed the cord or plug head feeling unusually warm, this one feels noticeably cooler under the same circumstances.

I don't think GM is admitting there was a redesign of the EVSE, but in my opinion there was at least a new edition that performs better (and is almost imperceptibly larger).

 

Just remember that current carrying ability is related to the amount of copper. So the bigger cable, the less heat for the same current. But the cable in your wall, has to be changed to make everything better. It is sort of like a bandaid for what you see and disregarding what you don't see.

 

I wondered if heavy use of electrical wires can cause problems over time (assuming critical heat is not reached), especially in light of wanting to charge a car with high current for many hours/day. Wiring does degrade, I've found--electromigration. However, it's only really of relevance in very tiny circuits like in microprocessors. In large wires (power lines, house, etc.) it's of no significance.

 

Electromigration, as you said, should be no problem for the foreseeable life expectancy of a house.

The bigger problem is minimum code being taken as the code. So if it says you must have wiring at least X guage, they put in X gauge wiring.

Also if you are in an old house with knob&tube or even flying spaghetti monster forbid, aluminum wiring, that sort of current will be a real danger.

Also a lot of these circuits are not dedicated. So it may be your car, and the AC, and your TV all pulling off of a little 15A line with wiring really only meant to carry 15A and no more.

When my house flooded because of a burst pipe and I used electric heaters to dry it out, I was tripping breakers every 20-30minutes. The extension cords were hot and the breakers were hot. Since I had the wiring exposed because I busted the wall, I could feel the heat being radiated from the wiring itself. And this is regular minimum code copper wiring. It was enough to start drying out the floor joists directly around the wiring holes.

 

I've been surprised at times to feel a good bit of warmth from extension cords running power tools

 

What's your VIN? I've noticed some heat build up at the plug but only warmth in the cable. I haven't checked the absolute temps. I plug in at the end of a 50 foot heavy duty cord. 12 gauge, I think.

By most accounts, the Leaf EVSE is a better piece.

 

Not surprising when some pull many amps to get heavy duty electric motors spinning. But the difference is that with a power tool, you are usually there an if it spontaneously combusts, you know it. EVs generally you plug in and walk away.

 

I've noticed the extension cord get hot when used with a heater. When using extension cords, you should use the shortest possible and uncoil it. When you a need a long cord for something with a large energy pull, upgrade to a higher amp rated cord.

 

It's the same thing. The cord doesn't care if it is a heater or car. The car is actually going to be worse because a heater draws a constant amount of power just to make wires hot. A car charger draws power in bursts at a certain frequency so the average current is the same, but the burst current is higher.

The laws of current carrying are current over distance over a specified volume.

Short high current PCB traces can be thinner than long medium current PCB traces.

Short high current extension cords can be thinner than long medium current extension cords.

Same deal.

 

Oh - that was the basis of your claim.

Yes, 200w/mile is 5m/kwh, which is not normal. I've got about that last month & this. This is from the battery - not the wall.

 

Who is Dennis and what exact history was I trying to rewrite ?

Yes, in cold weather EVs can eat a lot of energy trying to heat. You don't have "waste" heat from oil. They are good in cooling, though.

But then, you can always drive Prius to get a very low mileage like some rags have done.

 

vin #1883

 

Your signature indicates far short of 5 m/kwh. Leaf is more efficient than Volt per EPA so it will be even harder for Volt to achieve.

Nissan Leaf Lifetime Wall to Wheels : 3.7 m/kwh (EPA rating 2.9 m/kwh)​

BTW, I am Dennis.