I think more specifically the wiring between the charger and HV battery is only specced to 50kW.
Typical GM cost cutting
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This is an explanation from Reddit so make of it what you will:
āIf your question is about the technological limit, itās primarily the cooling system. The cells have liquid cooling from one side of the stack of cells, so heat from cells at the far side needs to conduct all the way through a long thin aluminum plate between cells. It would be able to charge at a much higher rate with cooling from both sides, or with a different geometry making that distance smaller. Thicker aluminum plates would be another option, at the expense of weight, space and cost. Itās not just something like a software change, or upgrading the size of the wires running to the batteries.ā
The BEV2 platform that the Bolt is based on has been rendered obsolete thanks to BEV3/Ultium. GM set out to build an affordable EV to get a foothold in the EV market and they did just that. DCFC wasnāt particularly prolific in 2016 when the BEV2 platform was released but they still included it as an option. It would make no sense to try and increase DCFC speeds in the sunsetting, entry level model when the Ultium based cars are filling that need for people who need/want it.
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You bought the Bolt EUV? Additional California incentives or MSRP minus the standard federal rebate? What does the average Bolt EUV prospective buyer cross-shop it with? I assume Model 3, at least now with the new discounts, but maybe not.
I leased a 2020 Bolt Premier for Zero dollars a month after an approximate 11% dealer discount, a ton of manufacturer rebates, zero sales tax in New Jersey and a $5,000 dollar rebate from NJ as well. My Bolt was replaced due to recall with a 2023 Bolt EUV Premier that I will be purchasing before the lease ends. Itās been far and away the smartest car purchasing/leasing decision I ever made. Dollar for dollar, to me itās been the greatest car in the world. Even if a Model 3 was somehow 1000 times better than the Bolt in every possible way, it would have to still somehow manage to be infinity times better than the Bolt in order for it to have made sense for me. These are definitely different times though, so your priorities and values may vary.
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Makes me worried about resale values reading that. However, Bolt and Bolt EUV are so cheap after the federal rebate. $20k-25k. How much could values slam on something so relatively cheap? And the Model 3 RWD, Iām less so, but a little wary about its resale just from the perspective of maybe any EV with less than 250 or 300 mile range (Bolt and Model 3 RWD will presumably have less than 250 with 50k miles of degradation) may be considered sort of obsolete in 2-3 years.
Thanks to the swap of vehicles on my current lease I have the option to purchase this EUV for approximately 23k. For me itās a no brainer and I plan to just run it into the ground, at least until the warranty on the battery is up. Iām not particularly concerned with being underwater at any point but I can see how that could be a concern if you donāt plan to keep it that long. With the cost of battery replacement on EVs and their generally low resale value I tend to view them as appliances anyway. At some point it will just be time to get another one, regardless of what I sell or trade this one for. The overall lower cost of ownership thanks to not having to pay to fuel/power the car makes up for that in my situation.
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Isnāt a brand new premier Bolt EUV MSRP like $35k before federal rebate, so $27k after? Or does yours have the moonroof ($2k) and Super Cruise ($2k)? Or maybe you make too much money to qualify for the rebate.
Free power? You do all your charging at work?
My MSRP was about 39k, with Super Cruise and the Sun and Sound package. My employer offers free charging stations at our parking lots, so I charge there 99.9% of the time. Iāve charged the car at home once this past year.
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Amp was the word I was thinking of! Amp doesnāt impact charging speed?
Max charge speed of 50kwh on the Bolt, while the Model 3 RWD has a max charge speed of 250kwh? So literally 5x faster, but that is only on level 3? While they both charge at relatively the same speed on level 1 and 2 chargers?
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Amp as in an amplifier or amp as in amperage?
Iām not sure. I think it was in regards to an amp, as in the capacity of said amp is how much of a max charge speed it can accept. But I have a hybrid 4xe Jeep, so thatās probably where I heard that. I think the 4xe has a weak (?) amp, so its 30 mile range battery charges pretty slow. But maybe the amp is a thing on hybrids and not on pure EVs. Or maybe Iām using all the wrong words and have zero idea what Iām talking about!
Gotcha. Youre thinking of amperage, which is a measurement of electrical current.
For example, the 4xe charger allows for level 2 charging at 32 amps. Since level 2 charging is at 240 volts, that would be 7.7 kW (240 volts x 32 amps = 7680 watts)
Thats a fairly normal charge current. There are some vehicles thatll take more, some that take less, etc.
Also, kW is a measurement of power
kWh is a measurement of storage capacity
A bolt will charge at 50 kW. If it does that for 1 hour, it will have stored 50 kWh.
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Thank you! So the Bolt can max charge about 6x faster than my 4xe, but the Model 3 RWD can max charge about 5x faster than the Bolt can? Of course my 4xeās battery is much tinier than the Bolt and Model 3 RWD. And the max charging capability is only a relevant āthingā on level 3 chargers?
The bolt can use a dc fast charger. At home, on a level 2, the bolt is also limited to 32 amps.
The 4xe (and almost every other phev) cant use dc fast charging. Theyre not set up for it because thereād be little reason to do so. Youre not going to be stopping every 25 miles for 5 minutes to charge on a long trip.
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There are two different āMax chargeā levels to consider. Thereās Level two charging, which is the stuff that almost everyone uses at home or work. The Bolt is no slower than any EV on the market in that regard. Level Three charging (think pay charging stations) is where the Bolt is limited, as it can only take up to 50 kwh from them. Some newer EVs can take up to 250 kwh, even 350 kwh from pay charging stations from EVGo, Electrify America, Tesla, etc. Not all pay charging stations are rated to provide that though. If you go to a pay charging station that only has 50 kwh chargers or the more powerful chargers are already in use, then the faster charging capability is useless to you.
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I believe that the newer Bolt and Bolt EUV can handle 48 amps now. Not certain about the previous models.
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Could be. I did a quick google search and that popped up, but i didnt verify
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Curious about the elevated level 2 capability. My prospective Bolt or Bolt EUV would be a new 2023. Or maybe it would it be 2024 if delivery is in June or July? That issue with the Bolt is I donāt know if I can wait until that long to take delivery. With the Model 3 RWD, I could take delivery this month, if Iād like.