I downloaded the OnStar RemoteLink app for my iPhone. This is pretty sweet! Here’s just some of what it can do:
- Show MPG, EV miles and total miles for both lifetime and since the last charge
- Show current charge status including estimated completion time
- Show how much range the car has (EV, gasoline and total)
- Show how much gas is in the tank
- Show remaining oil life (no more guessing when to change oil)
- Show tire pressure measurements from last drive
- Lock and unlock the car from anywhere I can connect to the internet!
- Start and stop the car from anywhere I can connect to the internet! (useful on hot or cold days to get cabin temperature comfortable)
- Honk horn and flash lights (and stop doing that as well)
- Bring up maps for navigation and send them to my car (haven’t tried this yet, so I don’t know if it requires a navigation system)
- Set the charge mode (immediate, delayed based on departure time, delayed based on electric rate and departure time)
- Alerts: I can be notified by email, text message or both for 1) reminding me to plug in to charge at a certain time, 2) letting me know the charge has completed, and 3) (most important) notifying me if the charge has been interrupted
- Contacting my Volt Advisor, OnStar Advisor, Roadside Assistance or my local Chevy dealer
- View my Volt’s VIN and OnStar account number (nice to have with me at all times)
Is that cool or what?!? Better yet: GM gives every Volt owner three years of OnStar service and five years of roadside assistance for free!! (yes, I know there is know free lunch…)
Charging this weekend was a challenge I wasn’t expecting. I feel kind of foolish. When I plugged the charger in, within a few minutes, the breaker would trip. I was exceeding the amperage for the circuit. In my garage, we have an industrial freezer and a refrigerator, known as “the beer fridge.” Those two items and the Volt didn’t like being on the same circuit.
My first solution was to unplug the freezer for two hours at a time. That got really old, really fast. Finally, I tripped the breaker and went around the garage from outlet to
outlet, looking for one that still had power, and was therefore on another circuit. I found one… one
the ceiling, near the garage door opener. Yes, by charger was strapped, by bungee cords, to the garage door opener! That allowed me to charge for a full ten hours without fooling with the freezer.
That did it though. I contacted an electrician recommended by a trusted source (my A/Cguy) and scheduled a new circuit and outlet installation. It’s going to cost $125 but the outlet will be the only item on that circuit. Peace of mind will prevail. If you’re in the DFW area, I highly recommend Keiser Electric.
Sunday morning, I used the blink website to find a charger. There was one at a McDonald’s not too far away, so I headed there for breakfast. As it turns out, even the Level 2 charger takes 4 hours to charge a Volt, so as much as I tried to stretch my time there, reading the news on my iPad, watching TV, catching up on Facebook, I just couldn’t sit there long enough. The charge was free though, which was nice. I sure wish I had a Level 2 charger at my house. (or even a Level 1 that wasn’t bungeed to the garage door opener…)
UPDATE: The new circuit was installed this morning and works great! (don’t the green lights look cool?)
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