PIP charge timer memory setting

The timer doesn't turn it on by itself, I think.
This is how I do it. I set up the time at the first time and never touch it again.
Turn off the car, press the timer button, close the door and check if the timer green icon is flashing in the dash. Then plug in the car, check the charging amber light by the plug is on and confirm if it turns off seconds later.

 

There is no way to set it so that it is always set to charge at a certain time. It is as you said, the time will be set from your last use, but you need to just activate it.

It bugs me when I park the car and go to plug in, then realize I forgot to set the timer and need to get back in the car to set the time. I now try to remember to do it while I'm waiting at a traffic light.. it doesnt feel like such a PITA when I'm doing it then

Something interesting I read today is GE introduced a line of Wattstations (they look more commercial though). But one of the features is to allow users to schedule start and stop times via 3G/4G or wifi network. If there was a home charger/EVSE that offered that feature, I'd buy it.

 

The problem is how to distinguish between the case where you want the car to start charging immediately when you plug it in, versus you want to start charging per the timer. Toyota has set it up like an alarm clock: You set the time once on an alarm clock, and you press a button to activate the alarm each day you want to use it.

For example, if I have been out and about during the day and expect to go out again later that day, I really want the charging to start when I plug it in. But if am not going out again that day, I want to set the timer for the early hours of the morning,

Those with the Advanced package and an iPhone or Android phone can start the charging from an app on the phone, assuming the charger is plugged in.

 

Unfortunately, the timer can't correct the tendency of us humans to sometimes forget things. But the habit isn't hard to establish, and you can set either a start of finish time that won't change until you manually reset it. I use the finish time, set to 5:50 am. All I have to do is push that button once anytime after shutting off the car for the last time, and then plug in the charger. I have noticed that it shuts off early most of the time, finishing a charge even from empty in under two and a half hours. The car did tell me this morning that I had forgotten to close the charger door, but of course that happened only after I got in, fastened my seat belt and attempted to start the car.

 

Can it handle two set times?: When I get my PiP, I am planning on charging at home early in the morning and charging again at work during late afternoon. Thanks.

 

I think you have to reset at work, only sets for one time I believe.

 

There are two modes for the charge timer using either a start time or an end time. These are remembered independently, so you can use one for morning and one for afternoon and toggle between the two modes.

 

This is a dumb design.

The timer should charge at the same time every night without pushing anything.

There should be a button on the charge socket that you can push when you plug in, to override the timer and start charging immediately.

If you don't want to charge one night, don't plug the thing in.

For such a smart group of engineers, they sure dumbed out on this one.

 

Yesterday I learned that if the timer is set while the car is plugged in, it won't charge at all. Grr. (I plugged in, realized I hadn't set the timer, and hit the timer button. Got in this morning to the "charging interrupted" message and the 0.5 EV range that I had left over from the commute.)

 

Is it possible to forget about the Prius timer, and use a timer on the outlet? That way you would just plug the car in on arriving home.

That said - in my case, I don't drive every day. So I'd still be better off using the timer to charge only one night instead of multiple nights. Or better yet use the app to charge in the morning if I know I'm driving that day.

But I wanted a car, not something I have to remember to take care of, like walking the dog. Which is why I don't have a dog.

Erg. Maybe there should be a timer button behind the charger port door.

 

you don't HAVE to use the timer at all, however, Toyota is recomending you DO use it, to get the maxium life and capacity out of the Lithium battery pack. You can plug it it, charge it, and leave it a full charge overnight... they don't recomend that, since its best to time it so its fully charged shortly before you start using the car, again, this is to maximize the battery pack life.

 

I wish I knew how to quantify that, though. I drive maybe 60% of the days. Does that mean the battery life will be enough longer than for a daily driver, that I could afford to take the easy way and charge the first night back in the garage? As opposed to leaving it uncharged and trying to remember to charge up at 6 am using the app on days when I will drive?

 

That's interesting. I haven't had this happen to me, and I've encountered the same exact situation multiple times: get out of car, plug car in, realize I forgot to set the timer, get back in car, hit the timer button, exit car. I always have a fully charged car in the morning.

 

This is what I do too, but I also check the green flashing light before I leave the car alone.

 

Yellow charging indicator in charge port should be a button that allows you to toggle from current charge to delayed charge (start) to delayed start (finish). Button icon would change with selection.

 

Just what it states, if you don't plan on driving that day, it's best to leave the pack empty or semi charged. With that said, don't stress out about it, this is a suggestion by Toyota in the manual, and it's also what Nissan Leaf drivers try to do. It's not a problem though, it's just a "best practice for longest lithium pack life"...