Learning To Charge The Chevy Bolt On The Road — Trial & Error & Lots Of Learning

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Last summer I bought a used 2017 Chevy Bolt. With a brand-spanking new battery, an 8-year warranty, and just over 20,000 miles, it was a good fit. Hubby installed an electrical outlet on the side of our rural country shed, and we were ready to charge for the majority of our time at our New England vacation home. I was also keenly aware that learning to charge the Chevy Bolt when on longer road trips would be really different than stopping at a Tesla Supercharger with our 2022 Tesla Model Y back in Florida.

With some bad weather and Covid exposure last summer, we had only one occasion to charge the Chevy Bolt away from home. This summer would be different, we pledged. We would venture away from the woodland cabin on the brook, explore our favorite summer haunts, and visit with family and friends. We would bravely charge the Chevy Bolt on the road. It would be more inconvenient than the Model Y or my previous black Honda Civic Si (sigh), but it would work.

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Heading to Ogunquit, Maine

Taking on the role of navigator for this first leg of the trip, I looked out the passenger window at the 6-station Tesla Supercharger network at the Charlton, Mass. Pike rest stop. I admit it: I was already yearning for my Model Y, wondering if I made a mistake last summer getting a Bolt. Would I be able to find the ChargePoint stations I had targeted ahead with some degree of ease? Would the public parking lots with ChargePoint stations be easy to locate? Would the chargers actually be available when we pulled in 3 hours later?

My navigation paid off. We turned off the main road, took a couple of lefts and rights, and pulled into the hourly parking lot. A charging station was available, and we plugged in. The parking attendant was chatty and advised us to watch the level of charge. We would be paying $5 per hour for parking in addition to our regular charging session, but, if we left the Bolt there after it was fully charged, we would pay $8.75 per hour.

The charger, it turned out, was well within strolling distance to our lovely Ogunquit oceanfront hotel. We charged up to 80%, at a higher charging total than we had ever paid before, but convenience to the hotel and knowing we had enough charge to get to the next destination made it all worthwhile.

And we were good citizens and moved the car before it was fully charged. We also met other EV drivers and compared notes.

Heading to Newburyport, MA

On the road again, the Bolt wasn’t syncing with the Google Map app in order to follow the ChargePoint app directions to the Newburyport, MA, charging station. I was the driver today, so I used Plan B: I entered the charging station address on my iPhone and sat the phone in a cup holder. An hour later, we pulled onto State Street, not far from where my youngest and quite delightful sibling lives, but I couldn’t see the single charging station on either side of the street. Hubby the Navigator suspected it was hidden by mature trees in the public parking lot across the street. Voila! There it was.

I parked and tapped the ChargePoint app. For a reason I still can’t figure out, the app refused to start a new charging session; instead, it froze. It didn’t recognize this new charging attempt and only saw my previous charging history in Ogunquit. I hit every possible menu item on the app until one must’ve refreshed, and the new charging session started.

We meandered up the street to the Paddle Inn, known for its gastropub veggie fare. While we munched, our battery gained a little bit of very inexpensive ChargePoint electrons. ChargePoint added $10 to our account after we were done charging, which must make for a good business model for this and other platforms — they have an asset base at all times.

We charged during the rest of the weekend at my brother’s place using a very long extension cord that reached up to a second story deck.

Heading to Cranston, RI

Heading from Newburyport to Cranston, RI, for a bit more waterfront fun, and then home to Northern CT afterward, we knew it would be best to charge up around Providence. If that didn’t work, we were ready to try out the new Flo app listed on the chargers at the Pomfret, CT, Community Center on the scenic ride home.

But the best case scenario was to find an available fast charger on Rt. 95 South. After slow charging in Ogunquit and Newburyport, we wanted our next charging experience to more closely resemble the fast charging of the Supercharger network. So we found a fast charger in a Walmart just outside Providence.

It was crazy busy! As we pulled up to the 4 sets of chargers, I saw that Hubby the Navigator had chosen an Electrify America platform. I’m the family treasurer, so that means I have all the charging apps on my iPhone. It took me another sit-down in the car to locate the app and then to add in my credit card information. But, no matter what technique I tried, the Electrify America app would not recognize me. Other EV drivers came and went, including a Tesla Model 3 driver who didn’t have the correct adapter.

Luckily, a gal who was charging nearby in a Bolt and quite familiar with the site acclimated us to its nuances. Thank you!

First, we learned that, even though there were two chargers per station, each station could only charge one vehicle at a time. One station wasn’t working, so that left 3, with all actively charging. We noticed that the companion to our station had finished charging and was on the verge of getting a surcharge for parking in a charging space. A bit frustrated, I unplugged his vehicle (he came along directly and wasn’t mad at all). Our new gal friend helped us unplug, plug in again, change the wattage from 8kW to 12kW for optimum fasting charging, and work the screens. It never did recognize my Electrify America account (I probably needed to restart my iPhone), but we used a credit card as a guest.

It worked, we charged to 80%, and Hubby was able to get out on the water for a little sailing while I wrote this article.

Final Thoughts about Learning to Charge the Chevy Bolt on the Road

All in all, this was an enjoyable trip and another life-learning experience. Each time I charge on the road I become more comfortable with charging platforms and their ins and outs. In this new world of EV charging, there are numerous variables to process: having the charging app loaded on the phone with credit card information; kW max at each station; availability of the stations or their need of repair; if the station can accommodate more than one EV charging at a time; the cost to charge and to hold the account with a minimum balance; and probably others I didn’t confront on this particular road trip.

Someday we won’t have to plan for EV charging. There will be enough charging stations in major metropolitan and tourist areas to accommodate everyone who needs to charge. In the meantime, I’ll continue to research and learn and share my experiences with you, gentle readers, and you, please, do the same. We learn best from each other, whether in the EV community or in other aspects of social life.