GM shows off 120V and 240V chargers for 2011 Chevy Volt
Chevy Volt Home Chargers - Click above for high-res image gallery
As part of the massive media blitz being rolled out today by General Motors in preparation for the new 230-mpg Chevy Volt and some B20 biodiesel trucks (more on these later), we finally got to see the two chargers that will come with the Volt when it becomes available in November 2010.
With each Volt purchase you'll get one of these two chargers – either a portable 120V charging unit that can plug into any outlet in the house (or, more likely, the garage) and can also be carried along in the vehicle, or a dedicated 240V unit (seen above) that will require installation into a more powerful connection, just like a dryer. Of course, the 240V unit will charge up the Volt quicker than the portable unit, but GM knows that customers will have different needs and so wants to offer options. That coiled orange cord on the 240V unit might also be an option, along with a regular straight cord by next November. Read all about these chargers after the jump.
GM engineering specialist Gery Kissel explained that the 120V unit (seen right) has two charge rates. The normal rate is 12 amps, but if this causes circuits to break or other problems in the house, there is a user-selectable 8 amp charge option. The 240V charger has a 16 amp output, which is just over what the Volt's 16 kWh battery is suited for. The charger has three lights to indicate that the unit is receiving AC power, if there is a fault, like a ground fault circuit interrupter indicator, and whether or not there is a ground present. The now-standard J1772 connector had plenty of safety features built in. Kissel said that it will survive being driven over if it's left on the ground, for example. Another very useful feature: The Volt won't move if you leave it plugged in. This disabling feature is not dependent on whether there is current coming in or not. The car itself detects if the handle is plugged in, eliminating the possibility of a bright orange tail.
One extra that GM is adding to the J1772 is a flashlight that will light up whenever the release handle is depressed. Water and weather and sunlight won't be a problem for these chargers, either. Both chargers can be mounted outdoors, if needed, and the female connectors can be dipped in water or sprayed clean.
While the near-production units that GM displayed today are functional and have been used to charge up actual Volts, another step in the process will happen sometime next year when the first units are installed in GM employee homes for testing purposes.
You can listen to Kissel's presentation by clicking play below:
Gallery: Chevy Volt Home Charging Units
Photos Copyright ©2009 Sebastian Blanco / Weblogs, Inc.
You can check out the Home Charging 101 slideshow gallery below.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Mike!!ekiM 6:42PM (8/11/2009)
Someone at GM did their homework: Outdoor All-Weather Charging! Very Impressive.
One extra that GM is adding to the J1772 is a flashlight that will light up whenever the release handle is depressed. Water and weather and sunlight won't be a problem for these chargers, either. Both chargers can be mounted outdoors, if needed, and the female connectors can be dipped in water or sprayed clean.
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DasBoese 7:14PM (8/11/2009)
Well, I hope once it comes to designing the European version, they'll include a 400V three-phase charger. Preferably portable.
Most urban residential buildings and practically all commercial buildings have three-phase power installed, it'd be dumb to waste that fast-charging option.
Of course, first we need a standardized connector. I was sort of opposed to developing a new connector where available ones would suffice, but now that it's destined to become the standard plug in North America, the EU has little choice but to adopt it I guess.
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AutoCritical 7:19PM (8/11/2009)
Perhaps a new era for GM to be designing the future of whitegoods!
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AutoCritical 7:21PM (8/11/2009)
Oh..also, I'm sure there is a better way than having two systems - couldn't they just roll it all into one?
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Mark Kiernan 7:27PM (8/11/2009)
Will Europeans get a 240v - 440v converter also?
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Mark Kiernan 7:29PM (8/11/2009)
I commend GM for their work also on the Volt, I was expecting it to be a half-assed approach but they seem to really care about getting the Volt to work and to make it possible to use without any problems. (why couldn't they have been so good with the EV-1)
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ivor.pdx 10:40PM (8/11/2009)
Looks like a really handy place to store your spare tires, or garden hose! The Volt is not looking as vaporish these days, don't you think? I'm really curious about Nissan's claims of greatly reduced selling price for their EV Leaf, and how that's got to drive some reductions for the Volt's price. Early buyers beware!
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Bob 11:25PM (8/11/2009)
They will need to make both chargers available in my opinion. The 240 at home and the 120 for away from home.
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Posterboy 12:55AM (8/12/2009)
After buying their vehicle which is apparently cost north of $40,000 before rebate, one would think that GM would at least include one of each type of plug, the 240V for home charging and the 120V to travel with. Raise the sticker price of the car by $10 to compensate for the the extra cost if you have to... why are companies so dumb? "Oh, you want a gas cap for your new car? Thats going to cost you extra!"
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Anthony DiSante 2:52AM (8/12/2009)
> That coiled orange cord on the 240V unit might also be an
> option, along with a regular straight cord by next November.
Whoa, whoa. Let's not get too optimistic here. I mean, a straight cord -- can they really pull that off in just 15 months?
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Rif 8:20AM (8/12/2009)
@DasBoese
There is already some month ago set a standard for European EV cars, it is the Mennekes EV plug which is based on the IEC 60309 electrical specs which are a standard throughout the world. The Mennekes plug allows 230-240V 1 phase for standard charging or 3 phase for hi speed (up to 43KW) charging and it does so in one plug.
Mennekes EV plug, intro and brief specs:
http://www.ecs-five.ch/parkcharge/documents/MENNEKES+and+EV.pdf
Photos of plug:
http://ing.dk/gallerier/109314
Mennekes press news in German:
http://preview.tinyurl.com/kkehyl
It is a pity if car companies for US market decides to go with the weaker spec of J1772 plug from Yazaki, as it just provides the same that can be done with the 1 phase charging of the Mennekes plug. It would be preferable to have just one standard.
The good part is that at least it is 240V based so there will be some way of making plug converters as long as enough current is available.
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vfx 11:46AM (8/12/2009)
@Rif
While I agree one world standard would be best (and the J connector is the weaker of the choices) I am realistically impressed that there are only two in the whole wide world. The J connector has been in the works for a decade so we know that's not going to change...
DasBoese 4:53PM (8/12/2009)
Yeah, my main gripe with the whole "we need to develop new connectors" initiative was that it's really redundant, after all the IEC 60309 series of connectors is proven to work well and has been in use for decades.
I didn't know that the Mennekes plug has already been standardized, though I knew that they were trying to. Guess that means we to face the reality that we'll have two different charging systems.
It's perhaps not too much of a problem for the customers, but it unnecessarily raises costs and complexity for manufacturers.
Chevrolet trucks 9:07AM (8/12/2009)
The car never needs more than 8kWh for a charge, as GM only uses 8kWh from the battery, despite its 16kWh capacity.
GM says 8 hours for a full charge on 110V, 3 hours on 230V.
In the end, the charge on the battery doesn't determine the range, so if you only get an 80% charge before you leave in the morning, you can still leave for work on time and know you'll get there.
http://www.autobuynsell.com
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