240 Charger Recommendations

[CAPT KUJO]

Originally Posted by keithf1138

Also interested in charging solutions. I would appreciate any links to charging solutions that work with the Volt to charge most effeciently and safely.

Another question I have is who to have install. We have some additional electrical work to be done in the house/back yard and thinking that having one electrician do that work as well as the 240V lines run to the garage would be more cost effective.

Do the charging solutions need to be hard wired or can they use a 240V plug?

I got a 240V charging system and had an electrician plug wire it and then put 240V receptacles in 3 different locations. Beats paying the $900 + for the same unit. the SPX 240V model doe not have to be "hard wired"

[Joe_Linux]

I have an SPX 220/240 Unit that is rigged to plug into a clothes dryer outlet in the carport. We bring it inside the house when not in use. There's got to be something better an cheaper than the SPX unit, which in my opinion is over priced, and under engineered. There is another thread where I posted a more complete opinion of its short commings.

[alawil]

Called a parts guy friend from a Chevy dealership and he gave me SPX contact info. I got a 240 volt charger for $550 w/ tax and shipping.
Then I called friends of mine who knew electicians who might do side jobs. I found one who did mine in 45 minutes. Including all parts and supplies, he did it for $100. Dealer quoted me $3800 with install done by Best Buy.
My breaker box was in the basement about 8 feet from Where he hung the charger in the garage so it was easier than most would be. But still, shop around, don't fall for the GM ripoff. Charges beautifully in 4 hours if needing full charge.

[Joe_Linux]

Originally Posted by alawil

Called a parts guy friend from a Chevy dealership and he gave me SPX contact info. I got a 240 volt charger for $550 w/ tax and shipping.
Then I called friends of mine who knew electicians who might do side jobs. I found one who did mine in 45 minutes. Including all parts and supplies, he did it for $100. . . . .Charges beautifully in 4 hours if needing full charge.

Glad to hear your installation costs were reasonable.

[sunnyyy]

I am agree to this solution and its working.

[ronnyyy2586]

It is very unsafe to use any kind of adapter for any high wattage appliance like Hairdryer (500 W- 1000 W.) Iron (200- 700 W.) in the bathroom,with who knows what kind of electrical wiring.
The best way to go about it (if you rely need them-if you are a female) to buy them there when You arrive in the particular province where You are heading. Plus You don't have to cary them in your luggage all the way to Asia.
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2013 MERCEDES BENZ SL-CLASS

[Joe_Linux]

Electric Clothes Dryers in the US are generally hard wired for 30 amps with 10 guage wire. The 220 SPX Voltec chargers only require a 20 amp breaker. In my particular instaltion the breaker capacity is matched to the SPX Voltec requirement. The entire situation is very different from using a portable hair dryer in the bathroom of a foreign country.

Originally Posted by ronnyyy2586

It is very unsafe to use any kind of adapter for any high wattage appliance like Hairdryer (500 W- 1000 W.) Iron (200- 700 W.) in the bathroom,with who knows what kind of electrical wiring.
The best way to go about it (if you rely need them-if you are a female) to buy them there when You arrive in the particular province where You are heading. Plus You don't have to cary them in your luggage all the way to Asia.
------------------
2013 MERCEDES BENZ SL-CLASS

[Joe_Linux]

My wife bought a Chevy Volt about one year ago. She has gotten over 500 MPG in over 10,000 miles, with 28 PV panels of the roof of our house. But I have have found the chargers to be a nightmare. They are extremely over priced, and very poorly designed. The 110 volt charger supplied with the vehicle has an extremely short power cord and is very hard to plug in to a fixed outlet because of this. The unit is glued shut, so I have found it impossible to change the cord to one that is longer. We paid over $600.00 for an again outragously over priced 220 volt charger which we plug into a 30 amp dryer outlet in the carport. This charger failed within a few days of just one year of use. To me the chargers are the real deal breaker when it comes to electric vehicles. There needs to be better price control, and insistance on more durable and user friendly designs. As it stands now these chargers are unreliable, hard to use, and represent an extreme rip off of any consumer trying to go green. You can buy a lot of gas for the price of these poorly performing and poorly constructed chargers. By the way the 220 volt charger we have is manufactured by the Bosch Automotive Group.

[Joe_Linux]

I have to say that the Bosch Automotive Group did a wonderful job in getting a replacement 240 volt charger out. It arrived UPS Friday evening and the car was up and charging on 240 volts by Saturday afternoon. So they got the replacement charger out to Hawaii in under a week.