[SilverDan]

Hi Folks,
New here, looks like a nice forum.

Seems like there’s a bunch of folks new to EV’s, FWIW thought I’d give you some thoughts to consider as you get the Silverado.

First, Congratulation's! The Silverado looks like a winner, and the fact that I am coming back to GM says a lots, especially considering that I wanted to go with another manufacturer, not because GM or the Bolt has been a problem, quite the opposite, but just because it’s the best of the best IMO. GM has the best engineering, and being an engineer I’m attracted to that.

Anyhow on to my thoughts, if you find it useful

1. Don’t worry about home charging, 6 kW will be just fine unless you have some really unusual circumstances. If you’re putting in new lines then sure, go ahead and do a 20 kW, but I wouldn’t bother with more than 30kW, just too expensive and not needed.
2. For gadgets, at the point with the existing (massive) fast charging infrastructure, all you need I’d suggest is the following
   1. A Tesla-J1772 (whatever the number is) adapter. It’s just a dumb adapter and works great, plenty of choices
   2. A J1772. Extension cord. You WILL have times when you can’t get a stretch properly, especially now that the port is inconveniently in the back (I might need to reroute one of my EVSE’s). Unfortunately however you can’t use a fast charger extension cord, so if you don’t want to bother that is fine too
   3. Don’t bother with all the other power adapters unless you are doing something weird.
   4. The provided EVSE that comes with it will probably be just adequate, and you'll rarely use it.
3. If you’re into OBD-II then Car Scanner (iOS and Android I think?) is the one to get
4. Download ABRP and Plug Share
5. Set up accounts on
   1. Electrify America (the one you’ll use the most)
   2. EVGo (#2)
   3. Charge Point
6. On optioning, don’t obsess about the extended range battery. Or differently, don’t feel bad about getting the standard range! Assuming you don’t tow, if you tow get extended range. But if it’s a choice between another feature you want, like the roof, and the battery, the battery is like buying extra RAM that you don’t really need. There’s so much infrastructure that 400 miles is kind of ridiculous, most of the time you won’t be using most of that.
7. Take care of your baby! These cars last longer than you think, if you take care of it you’ll be surprised at how they keep going, and going and going with no repairs or other dinosaur nonsense.
8. Combining points 6 & 7, carefully consider all your options. If you keep the car a good many years, you may be glad you get what you really wanted (we got the absolutely top spec Bolt which was the right choice)

I think that’s it, GM is the best BEV OEM as far as I’m concerned, based of my years of being with them and all the engineering research into them and others I‘ve done. You’ve made a good choice, just savor the wait because it’ll be great when they get here.

 

[aldaran]

Thank you so much for the advice. One question though, what is the Tesla adapter for? I thought only Teslas can use a Tesla charging station. Excuse me if its something simple, but I'm new to the EV world.

 

[SilverDan]

Your welcome! Yeah it turns out that Tesla is pin and protocol compatible with J1772. Get an adapter like this and it should work fine. Not recommending that or any particular adapter, but I have a Tesla adapter and have used the Tesla chargers at work for my Bolt no problem.

At any rate Tesla now is opening up their network to other cars, at present in Europe, so they probably had this idea from the beginning. Folks over there charging their non-Teslas all the time now, in countries such as Norway (which has a large EV culture).

On the protocol, IIRC the top two smaller pins are for that, with the lower two for the AC. An EVSE is really simple, just a simple powerline protocol and then a frankenstein switch which throws on the 240VAC. Various mfgs however do add on top of that base protocol extras - like Tesla where it finds out your car VIN->account (or some such approach), and now GM I think (maybe Ford) is doing something similiar with Electrify America. Just plug in and charge.

 

[aldaran]

Thank you again. I can't wait to get my Silverado EV.

 

[Flapjacks]

…and now GM I think (maybe Ford) is doing something similiar with Electrify America. Just plug in and charge.

GM has unfortunately partnered and testing Plug-and-charge with EVgo, it’s functional for the Bolts and I think HummerEV.

 

[SilverDan]

EVGo has been just fine for me, in fact on our last trip they worked better than EA. Anyhow they said it will be available on multiple networks in time.

 

[fhteagle]

you’re putting in new lines then sure, go ahead and do a 20 kW, but I wouldn’t bother with more than 30kW

The J1772 spec maxes out at 80 amps ( 19.2kW at 240V ), which would require a dedicated 100 amp breaker in the service panel and appropriate sized wiring. 30kW is DC fast charger territory, which is cost prohibitive for home install at this point. I would love to see Solar DC direct to CCS DC units, but as far as I know such a thing is not commercially available off the shelf.

I agree that a NEMA 14-50 (aka "dryer plug") and removable EVSE set to 40 amps (9.6kW) would fit almost everyone's use case for overnight charging just fine, even on a thirsty EV truck.

 

[Holeydonut]

The J1772 spec maxes out at 80 amps ( 19.2kW at 240V ), which would require a dedicated 100 amp breaker in the service panel and appropriate sized wiring. 30kW is DC fast charger territory, which is cost prohibitive for home install at this point. I would love to see Solar DC direct to CCS DC units, but as far as I know such a thing is not commercially available off the shelf.

I agree that a NEMA 14-50 (aka "dryer plug") and removable EVSE set to 40 amps (9.6kW) would fit almost everyone's use case for overnight charging just fine, even on a thirsty EV truck.

Keep in mind even a Hummer EV is hardware limited to 48A right now … and it’s unclear if 80A charging on future Hummer EV’s will require the specialized PowerStation.

2nd Charger options

Just took the hummer for a cruise from CT to VT. It's 173 miles one way so 340 r.t. so rather than have to locate a public charger I'll need a 2nd charger up there. Should I stick with a 60/48 amp charger or should I bump up to an 100/80 amp. These batteries are so big I'd rather get as...

www.hummerchat.com

I suppose if someone’s first EV is going to be a Silverado, they should wait to see which EVSE to install. Although I’d imagine many homes would have a hard time fitting a 80A EVSE within a NEC load calc.