That night, I plugged in the inverter, turned on the Bolt, flipped on the inverter, and plugged in a USB-C wall plug. I connected an iPad, it started charging, and I felt a weird sense of accomplishment at having found one of the most expensive and inefficient ways to watch YouTube. For a few hours, I held some project-completing pride.
That feeling of project success, which would remain unfettered by diagnostic warnings until the author checked his phone.
Credit:
Kevin Purdy
Later that night, the myChevrolet app flung about a dozen notifications at me. The gist: Every single system on the Bolt was failing, I needed to have it towed to a dealer, and I was wrong to try and redistribute its precious electrons. These were bad messages to receive in the middle of brushing my teeth, and sleep did not come easy.
Why the panic? The majority of EVs, however sophisticated, are heavily dependent on their old-fashioned 12 V batteries. This is due in part to how many of an EV’s ancilliaries—locks, lights, infotainment, power steering, and more—are designed to run at 12 V, in common with the rest of the auto industry. But it’s also because when an EV’s higher-voltage traction battery is off, it needs to be fully off and de-energized, and the 12 V helps switch it off and keep residual systems running (Inside EVs has a good explainer on this). Disconnecting my 12 V battery, even for just a minute to attach a connector, gave the car fits about lacking this crucial reserve of juice.
It’s weird, and it can be quite frustrating in the wrong circumstances. But the next morning, I started the Bolt, let it idle for a few minutes, and all the divinations of doom disappeared from the Chevy app. Six months later, I have yet to see any others. I’ve taken my car in for a general check-up since, and the mechanic made no note of my velcro-anchored connector.
