Thank you! I activated hilltop reserve after watching your 60k mile update video. There’s not too much info about bolts with high mileage and I’m glad you have not experienced tangible battery degradation after so many miles. I live in Canada so the weather here will be more severe but I do garage my 2018 Bolt when it’s home. I also have a 2019 premier on order as a second bolt coming later in the fall so me and the wife can enjoy driving around in pure electric. We will still keep one gas car for now though for long trips.
Thanks! That's awesome. My next priority is adding Solar Panels. Unfortunately, there's not much to do about our F-150 work truck for now. Luckily, we hardly drive it.
You should do a detailed video on how to turn on and manage your time-of-charge settings on the Chevy Bolt. this section of the graphical interface can be quite cumbersome and would benefit from a video.
Thank you for your very informative video’s . I have seen them al from the beginning and they were very helpfull for understanding and using my Ampera E, which I own half a year now. My question is also off topic, as I have no other way to put it. What could be the reason that GM doesnt want owners to tow even a small trailer with the Bolt? The motor seems powerful enough , though consumption will be a bit higher. Other ev manufacturers, eg Tesla, dont seem to mind. Is a trailer really too much a burden for the motor and battery or is GM just protecting itself from warranty claims? I am interested in your view on this subject. Could be an item for another plugside chat!
Thanks! As for the trailers, I'm not exactly sure. I think the easy answer is that GM doesn't want to have to deal with the warranty claims that come as a result of allowing owners to tow. But there could be a few other reasons, including low-speed motor programming for torque and power. They could also be worried about overheating or stress on the internal drive gear. A loaded car is one thing, but adding a few hundred to a thousand pounds on a trailer could be something else. I think, maybe, they just haven't done enough testing to feel comfortable with it. If they allowed towing, and Bolt EVs started failing, it would be a huge PR disaster for both GM and their electric vehicle efforts. I'll do a little more research. Maybe it could be a plug-side chat. Thanks for the idea! :-D
It could also be that the car's frame wasn't designed for the extra load. The Toyota Prius was the same way, and maybe still is. A trailer adds a lot of additional stress to that single point on the vehicle frame, and if you're concerned with efficiency at a low price point like the Bolt, the added weight might be a killer for the design goals.
Hello this is very informative. I brought a 2020 Bolt Today the car salesman said because of a 2020 recall the battery no longer charges full capacity its best to leave it at charging to 174 now I have charged it to 193 but it dropped in a matter of seconds back down to 174-173 and then drive less than ten miles and its down to 164. I am taking it back to dealership. Should I turn off Hilltop reserve? If Hilltop reserve isn't on then that would be an issue with the batter pack? Please advise?
One question about level 2 charging, settings. Is possible to set up in car incoming power limits in level 2 charging or it is limited by charger only ? I going to purchase Bolt EUV, (still not available in my country). I see that is possible to charge 11kw/h, but normally it be too much charge on my home power in sometimes. In fact no any tutorial say about it. Best regards, I like your channel.
Thanks! The charger on the Bolt EUV will only pull as much power as the charger you install can provide. So if you have a 16 A, 240 V EVSE (charger), the Bolt EUV will only draw 3.8 kW. If you have more power available, the Bolt EUV will draw as much as is available up to 11 kW.
@@newscoulomb3705 This part I know, hope the chevrolet charger can be adjusted to lover kw output. Otherwise will need to use in my home peak time 120V plug :-) or purchase separate charger apart of this which will come with EUV.
I understand in your example that you would get faster charging if you used hilltop reserve because you would have a lower state of charge when arriving at destination. But wouldn’t that faster charge just get you back to where you would have been if you had hilltop reserve turned off? In other words, wouldn’t it be cheaper and faster just to get that additional 10% charge at home rather than using time and money at a fast charger? Thanks for videos, I enjoy your plug side chat format.
It think it makes more sense to leave at 100%. If you stop to charge at 40% you have that additional wait time until 50%. So a full charge at home would be cheaper and faster on the road.
The 2019 Bolt EV replaced the Hilltop Reserve mode with a Charge Limit setting, where you can specify the max level you want the battery to charge to. I believe it's under Energy>Charging>Charge Limit. You can then toggle the levels up or down. I'd recommend keeping it at somewhere between 70% and 90% unless you really needed the range. I'll see if I can can do a demo of it soon.
This is the setting currently required (suggested) by GM so the battery won't burn up. Got another recall notice saying you need to bring your Bolt in but NOT YET as we don't have the parts! Seems like it's working well in tandem with Covid 19 and its variants. Just let us know guys when you get your shit together. Been over a year.
I have heard that if you charge to 100% and use your car within 2 hours after that, it shouldn’t damage your batteries in the long run, any input on that??
I don't think that would be the case. Most of the damage to the battery occurs during charging, so the wear comes from trying to cram more energy into a full battery. Once it's done charging, though, I can't see how leaving it at 100% would be harmful (as long as other systems like active thermal management are functioning).
Yes leaving the battery sitting at 100% is definitely not so good for the battery. If you need to charge to 100%, do the charging just before you make the trip so you don't have the battery at 100% for too long.
Is there a specific reason why? I haven't read anything that explains or has tested the difference between storing batteries at 100% versus 90%. Also, an important point to make here is that even when the Bolt EV is at "100%", it's not actually at 100%. It actually closer to 97-98%.
The higher the state of charge the higher the chemical reactions that cause degradation. That's just how Lithium batteries work. en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Battery_Power/Lithium_Ion_Batteries#Storage_temperature_and_charge 100% is the worst and the difference between 100% and 90% is bigger than between 70% and 60%. That's why some EV don't actually charge to 100%.
There you have it. I was hoping for a better explanation of exactly why or how that degradation works. For reference, the Bolt EV at 100% is at 4.17 V per cell. I'll have to double check the cell voltage at max with Hilltop Reserve Mode engage, but I believe it is ~ 3.9-4.0 V per cell.
Please forgive, but I don’t know how to contact you outside of TH-cam. A couple of things perhaps the Bolt could be ideally suited for, always looking for ways to promote BEV. First, is there an easy way to use the Bolts battery to power an inverter so that at least a house refrigerator could be run during an extended power outage, such as hurricanes here in FL? My second idea is related. In Japan, BEVs are used to power their houses during the peak rate period which is usually evenings. The BEV is then recharged in the early morning hours when rates are lowest resulting in significant savings. Vehicle to grid is what they call this. Your thoughts about converting/using a Bolt in a similar matter would be appreciated. I can foresee a time when US utilities will rely on BEVs for load leveling to avoid high peak generation costs (Vehicle to Grid) and enter into a lucrative partnership with BEV owners. If anyone is on top of this, I figured it would be you. As always, excellent info, even though I only own a PHEV currently.
The basic inverter setup is fairly easy, and a couple of methods can be used. I'll see if I can set up a video on that. As for the vehicle-to-grid, that takes more specialized equipment. I cold report on it, but I am in no way an expert on how, exactly, the hardware works.
My 2017 Bolt EV is part of the battery recall and I finally got tired of the recall notices and let the dealer apply the software patch. Hopefully this isn't their final solution. Anyway, I had hilltop reserve enabled from the beginning, so a full charge was always 88% Now, a full charge is 95% and hilltop reserve is no longer listed on the settings page. Has anyone else noticed this?
Yes, I just had my car at the dealer for the battery test and software update. They told me my battery is good and will not need replacing, but the hilltop reserve selection is no longer available. This is a problem for me. The name of the street I live on is called "Hilltop Drive" for obvious reasons and I definitely notice the loss of regenerative braking when I leave the house on a full charge. A bit of a bummer. I am inclined to call the dealer and inquire on why it was removed, but I suspect I will not get a straight answer.
5:00 I think you only get faster charging at low states of charge when you are using L3 (DC Fast Charging). With a L2 charge I don't think you're going to get significantly slower charging unless you are very close to full (already in taper). I don't see any different charging rate between 30% SoC and 80%
Robert Aitchison - you are correct. L2 chargers only slow down when the charge level approaches 100%. Otherwise they are constant and full speed ahead - relatively speaking. Once L3 chargers are deployed in the main travel corridors, for those who are traveling with a Bolt they will find that it’s most effective to recharge the Bolt battery from a low state of charge (5-15%) to an intermediate state of charge (65-70%) because this is the “sweet spot” where the Bolt battery charges fastest, and hence they will spend the least amount of time parked at a charger.
Still need a long downhill using Torque Pro to measure cell voltage while doing 60 kw regen from 90% SOC. That combined with a full 50- 90% DC fast charge with Torque Pro monitoring cell voltage would probably reveal some clues about the battery charging limits.
News Coulomb, did you see Bjorn’s Kona fast charge time lapse? It looks very similar to what the Bolt EV does in terms of charging dropping from 70 kw to 55 kw @ 55% SOC and 35 kw @ 75% SOC? (Using round numbers)? I wonder if the BMS or charger is what makes the step changes. I would think the BMS can call for exact current, but maybe the design of the charger is such that it turns off 10-15 kw of charger at a time, instead of throttling the kw 70, 69, 68.....(or current from 200,199,199...Amps). My bet is the I PACE is also going to disappoint some in charging, but will be great on the US 50 kw chargers with per minute billing. Kona will be ok on the 50 kw too, but on the 100+ kw, per minute, that’s going to be pretty expensive. No big deal if you only need that once a month, but if all your charging is at a 100kw Charger @70¢/minute, that’s going to be very expensive if you only charge at 70 kw till 55%, but if you are in a big hurry, the option is nice.
I did. It looks like the Hyundai Kona EV is using similar cells to the Bolt EV, but it looks like Hyundai might have stepped up the charging a bit. Essentially, I think the Kona's charge curve is probably the fastest rate it would be safe to push the Bolt EV up to. I spoke with Jeff Nisewanger recently (he wrote the article on the Bolt EV's battery): electricrevs.com/2018/03/09/jaguar-and-chevy-have-lg-in-common/ According to his research, the Bolt EV's cells can only charge at ~1 C, and it looks like Hyundai is using very similar cells. I disagree with him on one aspect though, and that's the Jaguar I-PACE. Hyundai hasn't, to my knowledge, published the Kona Electric's charge rates. Jaguar has done so for the I-PACE. According to Jaguar's materials, the I-PACE will charge to 80% in 40 minutes on faster than 100 kW chargers. That is faster than a 1 C rate (average charging rate at 100 kW to 80%). Also, Jaguar stated that, they are considering upping the charge rate to 125 kW using OTA updates after they gather additional data. So the I-PACE should not be restricted in a similar way to the Bolt EV or Kona Electric.
According to the Hyundai website, the Kona will charge to 80% in 54 minutes using 100 kw charger (probability any 200A charger since that is what the CCS seems to be limited to. Those numbers all seem to add up to what Bjorn got. The jaguar official site seems to be waffling a little: “ typical 50kW charger can deliver up to 270km (168 miles) of range per hour*. As the public charging infrastructure improves, I‑PACE will be equipped to accept up to a 100kW DC charge rate. This means you can easily add 100km (62 miles) of range in just 15 minutes.” Now all mention of % or kWh is gone, so we have to use another ambiguous number, the range, to figure it out. Jaguar is saying what we already knew, that a 95 kWh battery can charge at 125A for an hour, and it can take 200A for 15 minutes. I’m betting the I PACE battery will behave proportional to the Bolt and Kona. At 200A, it can start at 75 kw and drift up to 80kw, probably till 60% then drop to 65kw till 80%. It’s possible they can use the 500A CCS, but I don’t know it it would be worth the added cost. From day one, it looked like they were trying to make this compatible with the 50 kw network, like the Kona. I would say the Kona is designed to charge on a 125 A charger up to 80%, fast to 75% with 5% for battery and cabin conditioning before departure. I hope I PACE has 350A charging, but nothing on the website that I’ve seen recently suggests it will be the case.
The published I-PACE press release states the charging to 80% in 40 minutes, and they have been consistent about that. It will charge faster on any of the public DCFC regardless because of the increased pack voltage due to having 108 cells in series, but it seems that they have already verified the >200 A CCS standard. I am a bit disappointed in the Kona mostly because it looks like they did not follow Kia's lead (on the Soul EV) and up the number of cells in series. It looks like the Kona's pack is configured almost identically to the Bolt EV's 96s3p, but with slightly higher Ah. Also, based on the numbers Bjorn got for ~75 mph driving in the Kona EV, its overall trip speeds will be very similar to the Bolt EV's. The ~10% lower efficiency will eat up about half of its charging speed advantage. To me, it's starting to look like the Niro EV is more the vehicle to look out for. Though it will be very similar to the Kona EV, it is supposed to have significantly more cargo room. And if Kia continues to use higher nominal pack voltages, it will also have a charging speed advantage over the Kona.
Yes, it's better to charge to 85% or 90% for battery health. You automatically accomplish this by enabling Hilltop Reserve Mode, or setting the maximum charge level to 85% if you have that setting (in newer Chevrolet Bolts). Tesla and other brands have similar settings that you can adjust to an 85% maximum charge level. The principle is the same.
It would be nice if they allowed you to see the "hilltop" level that you'd like. So then when we are just driving shorter day-to-day trips you could set it to max out at 70% or 80% each night.
Yes. Bjorn Nyland recently did a review of the new Hyundai Kona EV. It has a similar setting, which allows you to select the maximum battery state of charge in 10% increments.
Why does Bolt EV or any other EV that has liquid-cooling want users to limit their charge to 80%. I thought that restriction is needed for air-cool batteries, like that of Nissan LEAF?
The range estimator is just an estimator, and it's based on your recent driving and the current climate. In my local driving, I regularly see 260 to 270 miles on a charge. Hit the freeway, and the estimate will drop quickly.
It definitely appears that limiting charging to 90% is a good default habit. 80% would be better still. You can always go higher if you're on a trip and need the range. But I question why this calls for a separate "mode." All owners should be aware of how the SOC affects the battery, and how to set the charger to stop at a certain point. Most of us, most of the time, should probably charge slowly, overnight, maybe from 30% to 70%, or something like that.
This is complete BS. I have a 2017 Chevy Bolt and is one of the recalled ones due to the battery hazard. I took it to my Chevy dealership and i literally waited 4 (FOUR) FREAKING HOURS in the lobby. Just for them to do this "HillTop" configuration. This whole time I thought they plugged in my car to a computer and did some wizard programing stuff and diagnostics nonsense. This whole time they just did these dumb clicks that I could've done at home but they wanted to keep me in their lobby to suck my time dry. FFFF
Vry helpful walkthrough of hilltop mode of great bolt
Thank you!
I activated hilltop reserve after watching your 60k mile update video. There’s not too much info about bolts with high mileage and I’m glad you have not experienced tangible battery degradation after so many miles. I live in Canada so the weather here will be more severe but I do garage my 2018 Bolt when it’s home. I also have a 2019 premier on order as a second bolt coming later in the fall so me and the wife can enjoy driving around in pure electric. We will still keep one gas car for now though for long trips.
Thanks! That's awesome.
My next priority is adding Solar Panels. Unfortunately, there's not much to do about our F-150 work truck for now. Luckily, we hardly drive it.
You should do a detailed video on how to turn on and manage your time-of-charge settings on the Chevy Bolt. this section of the graphical interface can be quite cumbersome and would benefit from a video.
Thank you for making this video. I had no idea!
Hilltop reserve is one of the best ales out there....
Very informative. Thank you sir!
Thank you for your very informative video’s . I have seen them al from the beginning and they were very helpfull for understanding and using my Ampera E, which I own half a year now.
My question is also off topic, as I have no other way to put it.
What could be the reason that GM doesnt want owners to tow even a small trailer with the Bolt? The motor seems powerful enough , though consumption will be a bit higher. Other ev manufacturers, eg Tesla, dont seem to mind.
Is a trailer really too much a burden for the motor and battery or is GM just protecting itself from warranty claims? I am interested in your view on this subject. Could be an item for another plugside chat!
Thanks! As for the trailers, I'm not exactly sure. I think the easy answer is that GM doesn't want to have to deal with the warranty claims that come as a result of allowing owners to tow.
But there could be a few other reasons, including low-speed motor programming for torque and power. They could also be worried about overheating or stress on the internal drive gear. A loaded car is one thing, but adding a few hundred to a thousand pounds on a trailer could be something else.
I think, maybe, they just haven't done enough testing to feel comfortable with it. If they allowed towing, and Bolt EVs started failing, it would be a huge PR disaster for both GM and their electric vehicle efforts.
I'll do a little more research. Maybe it could be a plug-side chat. Thanks for the idea! :-D
It could also be that the car's frame wasn't designed for the extra load. The Toyota Prius was the same way, and maybe still is. A trailer adds a lot of additional stress to that single point on the vehicle frame, and if you're concerned with efficiency at a low price point like the Bolt, the added weight might be a killer for the design goals.
Hello this is very informative. I brought a 2020 Bolt Today the car salesman said because of a 2020 recall the battery no longer charges full capacity its best to leave it at charging to 174 now I have charged it to 193 but it dropped in a matter of seconds back down to 174-173 and then drive less than ten miles and its down to 164. I am taking it back to dealership. Should I turn off Hilltop reserve? If Hilltop reserve isn't on then that would be an issue with the batter pack? Please advise?
One question about level 2 charging, settings. Is possible to set up in car incoming power limits in level 2 charging or it is limited by charger only ? I going to purchase Bolt EUV, (still not available in my country). I see that is possible to charge 11kw/h, but normally it be too much charge on my home power in sometimes. In fact no any tutorial say about it. Best regards, I like your channel.
Thanks! The charger on the Bolt EUV will only pull as much power as the charger you install can provide. So if you have a 16 A, 240 V EVSE (charger), the Bolt EUV will only draw 3.8 kW. If you have more power available, the Bolt EUV will draw as much as is available up to 11 kW.
@@newscoulomb3705 This part I know, hope the chevrolet charger can be adjusted to lover kw output. Otherwise will need to use in my home peak time 120V plug :-) or purchase separate charger apart of this which will come with EUV.
I understand in your example that you would get faster charging if you used hilltop reserve because you would have a lower state of charge when arriving at destination. But wouldn’t that faster charge just get you back to where you would have been if you had hilltop reserve turned off? In other words, wouldn’t it be cheaper and faster just to get that additional 10% charge at home rather than using time and money at a fast charger? Thanks for videos, I enjoy your plug side chat format.
It would. Always use Hilltop reserve except if you're on a trip that will get you further than your range. His example seems incorrect to me
It think it makes more sense to leave at 100%. If you stop to charge at 40% you have that additional wait time until 50%. So a full charge at home would be cheaper and faster on the road.
My 2019 BoltEV LT does not have this setting displayed in that screen and I cannot seem to find it elsewhere.
The 2019 Bolt EV replaced the Hilltop Reserve mode with a Charge Limit setting, where you can specify the max level you want the battery to charge to.
I believe it's under Energy>Charging>Charge Limit. You can then toggle the levels up or down. I'd recommend keeping it at somewhere between 70% and 90% unless you really needed the range.
I'll see if I can can do a demo of it soon.
@@ghostlygrimrapper Hey, Tyler. I'm going to do an update video on that soon. Hopefully, I'll have it posted in a day or so.
I don't see that option but I'm using a level 1 charger. Does this option show up only when plugged into level 2?
Didn’t know. Great vid.
Welcome electrek.co readers, congrats on the linking Eric!
Thanks, yes, it is really nice of Electrek to link here!
Although obviously I wish it was under better circumstances!
This is the setting currently required (suggested) by GM so the battery won't burn up. Got another recall notice saying you need to bring your Bolt in but NOT YET as we don't have the parts! Seems like it's working well in tandem with Covid 19 and its variants. Just let us know guys when you get your shit together. Been over a year.
I have heard that if you charge to 100% and use your car within 2 hours after that, it shouldn’t damage your batteries in the long run, any input on that??
I don't think that would be the case. Most of the damage to the battery occurs during charging, so the wear comes from trying to cram more energy into a full battery. Once it's done charging, though, I can't see how leaving it at 100% would be harmful (as long as other systems like active thermal management are functioning).
Yes leaving the battery sitting at 100% is definitely not so good for the battery. If you need to charge to 100%, do the charging just before you make the trip so you don't have the battery at 100% for too long.
Is there a specific reason why? I haven't read anything that explains or has tested the difference between storing batteries at 100% versus 90%.
Also, an important point to make here is that even when the Bolt EV is at "100%", it's not actually at 100%. It actually closer to 97-98%.
The higher the state of charge the higher the chemical reactions that cause degradation. That's just how Lithium batteries work. en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Battery_Power/Lithium_Ion_Batteries#Storage_temperature_and_charge
100% is the worst and the difference between 100% and 90% is bigger than between 70% and 60%. That's why some EV don't actually charge to 100%.
There you have it. I was hoping for a better explanation of exactly why or how that degradation works.
For reference, the Bolt EV at 100% is at 4.17 V per cell. I'll have to double check the cell voltage at max with Hilltop Reserve Mode engage, but I believe it is ~ 3.9-4.0 V per cell.
Please forgive, but I don’t know how to contact you outside of TH-cam. A couple of things perhaps the Bolt could be ideally suited for, always looking for ways to promote BEV.
First, is there an easy way to use the Bolts battery to power an inverter so that at least a house refrigerator could be run during an extended power outage, such as hurricanes here in FL?
My second idea is related. In Japan, BEVs are used to power their houses during the peak rate period which is usually evenings. The BEV is then recharged in the early morning hours when rates are lowest resulting in significant savings. Vehicle to grid is what they call this.
Your thoughts about converting/using a Bolt in a similar matter would be appreciated. I can foresee a time when US utilities will rely on BEVs for load leveling to avoid high peak generation costs (Vehicle to Grid) and enter into a lucrative partnership with BEV owners.
If anyone is on top of this, I figured it would be you.
As always, excellent info, even though I only own a PHEV currently.
The basic inverter setup is fairly easy, and a couple of methods can be used. I'll see if I can set up a video on that. As for the vehicle-to-grid, that takes more specialized equipment. I cold report on it, but I am in no way an expert on how, exactly, the hardware works.
My 2017 Bolt EV is part of the battery recall and I finally got tired of the recall notices and let the dealer apply the software patch. Hopefully this isn't their final solution.
Anyway, I had hilltop reserve enabled from the beginning, so a full charge was always 88%
Now, a full charge is 95% and hilltop reserve is no longer listed on the settings page.
Has anyone else noticed this?
Yes, I just had my car at the dealer for the battery test and software update. They told me my battery is good and will not need replacing, but the hilltop reserve selection is no longer available. This is a problem for me. The name of the street I live on is called "Hilltop Drive" for obvious reasons and I definitely notice the loss of regenerative braking when I leave the house on a full charge. A bit of a bummer. I am inclined to call the dealer and inquire on why it was removed, but I suspect I will not get a straight answer.
5:00 I think you only get faster charging at low states of charge when you are using L3 (DC Fast Charging). With a L2 charge I don't think you're going to get significantly slower charging unless you are very close to full (already in taper).
I don't see any different charging rate between 30% SoC and 80%
Robert Aitchison - you are correct. L2 chargers only slow down when the charge level approaches 100%. Otherwise they are constant and full speed ahead - relatively speaking. Once L3 chargers are deployed in the main travel corridors, for those who are traveling with a Bolt they will find that it’s most effective to recharge the Bolt battery from a low state of charge (5-15%) to an intermediate state of charge (65-70%) because this is the “sweet spot” where the Bolt battery charges fastest, and hence they will spend the least amount of time parked at a charger.
Still need a long downhill using Torque Pro to measure cell voltage while doing 60 kw regen from 90% SOC. That combined with a full 50- 90% DC fast charge with Torque Pro monitoring cell voltage would probably reveal some clues about the battery charging limits.
Yes, but that will be very hard to set up. I'll see what I can do.
News Coulomb, did you see Bjorn’s Kona fast charge time lapse? It looks very similar to what the Bolt EV does in terms of charging dropping from 70 kw to 55 kw @ 55% SOC and 35 kw @ 75% SOC? (Using round numbers)?
I wonder if the BMS or charger is what makes the step changes. I would think the BMS can call for exact current, but maybe the design of the charger is such that it turns off 10-15 kw of charger at a time, instead of throttling the kw 70, 69, 68.....(or current from 200,199,199...Amps).
My bet is the I PACE is also going to disappoint some in charging, but will be great on the US 50 kw chargers with per minute billing. Kona will be ok on the 50 kw too, but on the 100+ kw, per minute, that’s going to be pretty expensive. No big deal if you only need that once a month, but if all your charging is at a 100kw Charger @70¢/minute, that’s going to be very expensive if you only charge at 70 kw till 55%, but if you are in a big hurry, the option is nice.
I did. It looks like the Hyundai Kona EV is using similar cells to the Bolt EV, but it looks like Hyundai might have stepped up the charging a bit. Essentially, I think the Kona's charge curve is probably the fastest rate it would be safe to push the Bolt EV up to.
I spoke with Jeff Nisewanger recently (he wrote the article on the Bolt EV's battery): electricrevs.com/2018/03/09/jaguar-and-chevy-have-lg-in-common/
According to his research, the Bolt EV's cells can only charge at ~1 C, and it looks like Hyundai is using very similar cells.
I disagree with him on one aspect though, and that's the Jaguar I-PACE. Hyundai hasn't, to my knowledge, published the Kona Electric's charge rates. Jaguar has done so for the I-PACE. According to Jaguar's materials, the I-PACE will charge to 80% in 40 minutes on faster than 100 kW chargers. That is faster than a 1 C rate (average charging rate at 100 kW to 80%). Also, Jaguar stated that, they are considering upping the charge rate to 125 kW using OTA updates after they gather additional data. So the I-PACE should not be restricted in a similar way to the Bolt EV or Kona Electric.
According to the Hyundai website, the Kona will charge to 80% in 54 minutes using 100 kw charger (probability any 200A charger since that is what the CCS seems to be limited to. Those numbers all seem to add up to what Bjorn got.
The jaguar official site seems to be waffling a little:
“ typical 50kW charger can deliver up to 270km (168 miles) of range per hour*. As the public charging infrastructure improves, I‑PACE will be equipped to accept up to a 100kW DC charge rate. This means you can easily add 100km (62 miles) of range in just 15 minutes.”
Now all mention of % or kWh is gone, so we have to use another ambiguous number, the range, to figure it out. Jaguar is saying what we already knew, that a 95 kWh battery can charge at 125A for an hour, and it can take 200A for 15 minutes.
I’m betting the I PACE battery will behave proportional to the Bolt and Kona. At 200A, it can start at 75 kw and drift up to 80kw, probably till 60% then drop to 65kw till 80%. It’s possible they can use the 500A CCS, but I don’t know it it would be worth the added cost.
From day one, it looked like they were trying to make this compatible with the 50 kw network, like the Kona. I would say the Kona is designed to charge on a 125 A charger up to 80%, fast to 75% with 5% for battery and cabin conditioning before departure.
I hope I PACE has 350A charging, but nothing on the website that I’ve seen recently suggests it will be the case.
The published I-PACE press release states the charging to 80% in 40 minutes, and they have been consistent about that. It will charge faster on any of the public DCFC regardless because of the increased pack voltage due to having 108 cells in series, but it seems that they have already verified the >200 A CCS standard.
I am a bit disappointed in the Kona mostly because it looks like they did not follow Kia's lead (on the Soul EV) and up the number of cells in series. It looks like the Kona's pack is configured almost identically to the Bolt EV's 96s3p, but with slightly higher Ah.
Also, based on the numbers Bjorn got for ~75 mph driving in the Kona EV, its overall trip speeds will be very similar to the Bolt EV's. The ~10% lower efficiency will eat up about half of its charging speed advantage.
To me, it's starting to look like the Niro EV is more the vehicle to look out for. Though it will be very similar to the Kona EV, it is supposed to have significantly more cargo room. And if Kia continues to use higher nominal pack voltages, it will also have a charging speed advantage over the Kona.
Question, does it help preserve the battery life?
Yes, it's better to charge to 85% or 90% for battery health. You automatically accomplish this by enabling Hilltop Reserve Mode, or setting the maximum charge level to 85% if you have that setting (in newer Chevrolet Bolts). Tesla and other brands have similar settings that you can adjust to an 85% maximum charge level. The principle is the same.
It would be nice if they allowed you to see the "hilltop" level that you'd like. So then when we are just driving shorter day-to-day trips you could set it to max out at 70% or 80% each night.
Yes. Bjorn Nyland recently did a review of the new Hyundai Kona EV. It has a similar setting, which allows you to select the maximum battery state of charge in 10% increments.
2019 model has that now. Would be cool if it could be updated, iirc they added ota updates, but could be wrong.
Thank you!!!
Isn't it alot better to engage it to preserve ur battery later on in life for me I live nowhere near mountains or hills michigan is so flat
Why does Bolt EV or any other EV that has liquid-cooling want users to limit their charge to 80%. I thought that restriction is needed for air-cool batteries, like that of Nissan LEAF?
The charge limitation is due to a number of factors beyond heat. But as far as the not charging to 100%, that just decreases the lifespan.
Hi I have twice had the experience where my Bolt charged to 261 mi. This should not be happening, has anyone else experienced this ?
The range estimator is just an estimator, and it's based on your recent driving and the current climate. In my local driving, I regularly see 260 to 270 miles on a charge. Hit the freeway, and the estimate will drop quickly.
It definitely appears that limiting charging to 90% is a good default habit. 80% would be better still. You can always go higher if you're on a trip and need the range.
But I question why this calls for a separate "mode." All owners should be aware of how the SOC affects the battery, and how to set the charger to stop at a certain point. Most of us, most of the time, should probably charge slowly, overnight, maybe from 30% to 70%, or something like that.
I feel like this feature Is worthless. Unless you live on the complete top of a 5 mile straight down hill.
This is complete BS. I have a 2017 Chevy Bolt and is one of the recalled ones due to the battery hazard. I took it to my Chevy dealership and i literally waited 4 (FOUR) FREAKING HOURS in the lobby. Just for them to do this "HillTop" configuration. This whole time I thought they plugged in my car to a computer and did some wizard programing stuff and diagnostics nonsense. This whole time they just did these dumb clicks that I could've done at home but they wanted to keep me in their lobby to suck my time dry. FFFF
The update patch they did locked Hilltop Reserve in the on position, so it did require a software patch.