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"Preferred Charging Times" on this menu doesn't do anything

I just spent over 1 hour on the phone with the GM EV Concierge folks to learn this. They're very helpful. They agree it doesn't work. Turning it on and configuring it makes no difference.

I disagree that "Preferred Charging Times" makes no difference. I think there is a misunderstanding as to what takes precedence. I did a trial on my car last night. I set the departure time in the scheduler to 10:00am with "Charge to" set at 80%. I set the preferred charging times as 11pm to 8:30am. The car was at 61% when I plugged it in and charged in order to reach 80% by 8:30am--not 10am. [It actually finished charging shortly after 8am.] If "Preferred Charging Times" did nothing, it would not have charged as early as it did. I agree that if the car couldn't charge to 80% between 11pm & 8:30am it would have kept charging past 8:30am, but my L2 charger is fast enough to allow the car to stick to my preferred charging times.

In my experience, setting up a schedule for each day and then not messing with the "Charge Now/Charge Later" screen, which overrides the schedule for the next charge, achieves my goal of charging during off-peak times.

 

Before calling GM I tried something similar, but couldn't find a way to ignore charge now/charge later, so I called GM and they advised that preferred charge doesn't work. How did you manage to ignore charge now/later? In my instance one or the other was always highlighted.
Once my wife returns the car this morning, I'll give it another test. I typically set the Preferred Charging Time to 1-5 minutes in the future. Upon returning in 5 minutes, nothing happens, and I don't think I touched charge now/later. This time, I will ensure that's the case.

 

Good discussion. I also have found the scheduler and "preferred charge time" settings confusing. Given what you found, It would make more sense to have "preferred charge time" as an optional setting within a given schedule.

On the subject of "preferred charging times," there does not seem to be a way to force the charging to ONLY occur during a specific time. In my case, as long as the car has a reasonable SOC at the beginning of the day, my priority is to charge when the discount rate is in effect -- "Mandatory charging times" I don't see a way to force the Equinox to do that.

 

You are correct. FYI, I got a big thank you from the EV concierge lady when I forwarded ML's charging solution. She forwarded it on to their techs. Apparently they get a lot of calls regarding it. It made her day.

 

Hi everyone, I am now thoroughly confused on how I can get the car to only charge during my off-peak hours. For me, my only priority is charging during off-peak. I don't care what the ending battery percentage is. I don't drive every day. I don't drive long trips, or have set departure times, and I average 90 miles/week. If I didn't get enough charge to get the battery to the 80% limit last night during the cheap rates, that's okay, as I probably will top it up tonight or tomorrow, and certainly will over the weekend. Is there a way to only charge during my off-peak hours?

Having just received my rather expensive "Chevrolet" Level 1/2 Charger, I am wincing at the suggestion that I may need to purchase a different one, one that Chevrolet says may void my battery warranty...

(Also, how do I contact "the EV Concierge" with my questions?)

 

I have posted about this a few times, but here I go again. I also do not have a required departure time, as I am retired. Here is how I have my car set up to charge during non-peak hours [my peak hours are 11am - 7pm weekdays]:

I scheduled a departure time of 10am each day.
I turned on preferred charge times and set them at 7:15pm to 10:45am Monday through Friday and all day on weekends.
I plug in the car some evenings, when it is down below 60% or so, or if I will be driving a lot the next day.

Keep in mind that the car will charge just before the 10am departure time (or whenever you set it), starting soon enough to reach your set charge limit by that time. I have a Level 2 charger, and my car usually only needs to charge a couple of hours, maybe 8am to 10am on a usual day. If you are not plugging into a 240V outlet, you may have less success keeping within the preferred charge times, but based on 90 miles/week, you should be OK most days.

 

Thanks to M L , I've learned that the preferred charging times only works if you establish a weekly schedule for every day you plan to charge, then establish the preferred charging times. Mine worked when my weekly schedule was set to complete AFTER the the "Preferred Charge Time".
For some reason, the charge doesn't begin at the beginning of the preferred charging times, it tries to calculate it so that it completes near the end.

And, FYI, some level 2 chargers, known as "smart chargers" handle the preferred charge times for you, so all of the programming with the car is unnecessary..

The phone number for Chevrolet's EV Concierge is (833) 382-4389.

I hope this helps.

 

Thanks to M L , I've learned that the preferred charging times only works if you establish a weekly schedule for every day you plan to charge, then establish the preferred charging times. Mine worked when my weekly schedule was set to complete AFTER the the "Preferred Charge Time".
For some reason, the charge doesn't begin at the beginning of the preferred charging times, it tries to calculate it so that it completes near the end.

And, FYI, some level 2 chargers, known as "smart chargers" handle the preferred charge times for you, so all of the programming with the car is unnecessary..

The phone number for Chevrolet's EV Concierge is (833) 382-4389.

I hope this helps.

Thanks for this info. [edited: question removed, answered my M L]

 

Thank you for the explanation, M L!
(Learning this car has made me feel like an idiot for the first time in my life...)

 

Thank you for the explanation, M L!
(Learning this car has made me feel like an idiot for the first time in my life...)

When we first got the car my wife and I spent about an hour in the driveway going over all the buttons, tabs, knobs, menus. The one that absolutely stumped us was the turn signal/wiper washer stalk. There's a double ended, horizontal arrow printed on the stalk. We tried every which way to pull out or push in the stalk. No success. I tried it, she tried it, we'd come back and try it again. After much consternation we figured it out. It was indicating the left and right turn signal..lol Duoh! We were so focused on it being an instruction. We laughed.

 

Purchased a 2025 Equinox EV AWD 2RS, Iridescent Pearl White, on 2/17/25, it’s a thing of beauty. However, yup, the Preferred Charge Time doesn’t work. Here’s hopping they can figure it out in short order but given the time this thread has been going, looks like it will be later rather than sooner.

 

Use departure time charging. It works and pretty much does what you want.

 

Thanks Mike and MSD. I will definitely call the EV Concierge and try some of the other suggestions in the tread.

 

I got confirmation yesterday from GM that the preferred charge and delayed charge features are broken in the latest round of software updates. GM's software team is working on this and new scheduling capabilities.

 

They fixed the bug by completely getting rid of setting a charge time and replaced it with a time you want your vehicle ready? WTF??? There is no opportunity to set a time to start charging any longer.

 

I just got off the phone with Chevrolet EV Concierge. They say they have never heard of the problem. Apparently the people on this forum know more about the issue than Chevrolet. Should I call back concierge and hope to get someone more knowledgeable? My Equinox preferred charge time is still not working. Has anyone found a solution to this problem? I don't like using the departure time option. It is limited in function. The preferred charge time on our Bolt EUV worked flawlessly. I have been updating the software as it is available, but still no go.

 

It doesn't work, period. Learn to live with departure time settings, buy an EVSE with programming to allow TOD charging or install a contactor ahead of the EVSE interfaced with a time clock. These are in order of cost.

 

GM has made it a point to get the vehicle to your target charge level at all costs. One option is to lower your target charge level so it can finish within your window.