Gen 2 Chevrolet Volt PHEV (2016+) MSRP $33,995

I'm happy to see more PHEVs getting a more powerful OBC. I know the general thinking is it is unnecessary but for me it means I'd have to charge less on a $2/hr rate at work and doing it could make more economical sense than burning gas on my way home.

Valdemar said:

I'm happy to see more PHEVs getting a more powerful OBC. I know the general thinking is it is unnecessary but for me it means I'd have to charge less on a $2/hr rate at work and doing it could make more economical sense than burning gas on my way home.

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I agree. I mean it's not that people have to charge at the higher rate, it's just nice to have the option. Many of us EV'ers have a 50a outlet(14-50) which can safely charge at up to 40a or 9.6 Kw, why not let us do it
What I'd really like is a car that let the user adjust(limit) the charging amperage to say 12a, 16a, 24a and 32a along with the 40a max, but due to all the technoligically limited people and insurance companies I really really doubt we'll get that kind of flexibility

Valdemar said:

I'm happy to see more PHEVs getting a more powerful OBC. I know the general thinking is it is unnecessary but for me it means I'd have to charge less on a $2/hr rate at work and doing it could make more economical sense than burning gas on my way home.

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Yes, anywhere you pay by the hour, or even places where you pay per kWh but there's a time limit, a higher power OBC is a benefit. For instance, my cheapest local pay L2 charging is limited to 4 hours @ $0.320/kWh (plus there's a $1 connection fee), and that's really not enough time to fully charge a Volt with a 3.6kW OBC, and you want to charge it as much as possible each time to get the price down (because of the connection fee). Elsewhere there are free L2s, but they are limited to 2 hours. Away from home opportunity charging (of BEVs especially, but PHEVs too) really benefits from higher power OBCs.