Numbers are all over the place on this. I don’t know which to believe.
Chevy says 10 hours on a 120 volt source, and 4 hours on a 240 volt source (from the Volt website).
Apparently they don’t use the full 16 kWh capacity, the limit it (in software) to 10.4 kWh to extend the battery life (Wikipedia). They do not fully charge or discharge the batteries.
Numbers are all over the place on this. I don’t know which to believe.
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Why don’t we use the numbers in the Operators Manual?
http://www.chevrolet.com/assets/pdf/owners/manuals/2011/2011_chevrolet_volt_owners.pdf
9-56 Driving and Operating
Electrical Requirements for Battery Charging
The AC outlet must have a grounded, dedicated, 15 amp or greater, three-prong wall plug. That means there should be no other major appliances connected to the same circuit. If it is not a dedicated circuit, the current rating of the outlet circuit breaker could be exceeded and cause it to trip or open. The vehicle can be charged in the reduced level mode.
See “Charge Level Button” in this section. Reduced level mode allows a non-dedicated circuit to be used but increases the charging time.
This vehicle is capable of being charged with a variety of standard vehicle charging equipment.
The following are the minimum requirements for circuits used to charge this vehicle:
. 120V/15Amp
. 240V/20Amp
Charging equipment with a rating of at least 240V/20Amp will provide the fastest charging time to recharge the high voltage battery. 240V/40Amp circuits provide flexibility for future vehicle charging needs. Contact your dealer for more information.
Do not use non-grounded electrical plug adapters.
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In section: 5-34 Instruments and Controls It goes through the ability to program the charging time. The system has the ability to take a slower charge or delay the charge based upon utility rates and time of day metering.
10 hours on a 120 volt, 15 Amp source; or and 4 hours on a 240 volt, 20 Amp source appear to be the fastest available. Looks like they hope to offer and upgrade that might complete in 2 hours at some time in the future.