When Should I Charge?

I've had my PIP for 5 weeks. From my reading and studying I believe the BEST time for charging is to be finished just before driving. Charging warms the battery and a warm battery is somehow more efficient than a cold one. I don't believe a fully charged battery would lose charge while sitting for 12 hours. I haven't seen any explanations for the difference driving the two.

 

I've had my PIP since April 23, 2012. I charge my car at my apartment in the parking lot. The 120 volt outlet is on the same circuit as the parking lot lights so they come on when it's dark, off when the sun comes up. I charge my car at night. The next morning my EV is 12.4 miles. I haven't noticed any depreciation in EV miles.

 

From my own experience I've seen no noticeable difference in state of charge when charged the night before as compared to completing the charge right before you're scheduled to depart in the morning.

FWIW- Even knowing that I don't gain anything- I still use the start timer at 5:20am to be ready to roll at 8am....

 

Once the PIP finishes charging, there is no trickle charging, so leaving the brick plugged in serves no purpose. On my Kill A Watt meter when charge is finished the amperage is only .03 amps, not enough to trickle charge, it's probably due to the power indicator led drawing the .03 amps

 

Charge when ever it's convenient. But - if you're away for a long time ... weeks ... months ... under those conditions, lithium, for storage purposes, will do best when stored around the 1/2 full mark. Over a long period you may drop a tad, and that's ok. Put another way, Lithium doesn't like long term storage at max full & max empty. Other than that ... you're good to go.
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since i'm on a time of use rate plan (e9a for ev owners), the timer is great for setting charge to take place in the middle of the night (lowest rate). on weekends, i sometimes do a 2nd charge during the day as the weekend rates are low enough.

btw the timer allows you to either start at a set time or end at a set time

i don't think anyone knows for sure what conditions (# charges, battery age, usage etc) may degrade the Lithium batteries over time. so i figure might as well charge when i want and if the battery goes, then at least i get 50+ mpg (unlike that other "extended range" ev )​

 

wink, wink

 

I normally just plug in when I get home and 6pm and its charged by 9pm, then I leave at 7:30 am. I would normally see 11.7 miles estimate. Now that it is getting colder here in So Cal, my estimate in the morning is only 11.2 (only difference is now I use the seat heater) And I am indeed getting about 1/2 mile less distance.

I have tried numerous times setting the end timer for 7am. Every time I try it I get an email that charging completed at like 5:20. I don't trust that end timer. I think that I am on a 15amp circuit that doesn't have anything else drawing from it at 4am, that it charges a lot faster than the car thinks it should.

 

'getting colder' meaning?

 

you know........brrrrrrrr

 

I've used the "end at xx:xx" timer too- it's notoriously inaccurate. The first time I used it- I set it to finish charging at 8am, I got up at 7am, checked the car at 7:05am and the charge had already finished- 55min early! The next time I added 20min, set it to end at 8:20am and it was still charging at 8am when I needed to leave in 5min. I gave up on the completion timer after that.
Now I use the "start charge at xx:xx" timer since I know my car usually completes a full charge in 2hr 40min.

 

Well at night its in the low 50s. And during my drive its low 60s.

 

yah, that's when my ev started dropping too. interestingly, it's 30's and 40's now and it hasn't gotten noticeably worse.

 

All batteries lose some charge as it sits. It's not noticeable to us because the amount is minuscule to amount we need to move the car even 0.1 mile.I would say it's equivalent to shaking the gas nozzle as you release from the gas tank. It's only a few drops. Hey, a few drops can be half a gallon in my lifetime? I haven't done the math for # of drops to a gallon. Some poor dinosaurs died for that oil. I'm not going to waste it. I'm not going to waste a few watt/hours either.

I usually use the end timer. I don't know if it's terribly inaccurate, but it's always fully charged at the time I set it at. I call that reliable. I sometimes charge right away so I can use it for a late night errand but a fuse blew the other night. Apparently, the fireplace electric heater, 55" LED TV, and the only available outlet in the garage where my PiP is plugged in are on the same circuit. So I guess, it's end timer for me this winter.

 

The fireplace electric heater can be 1200+ watt draw by itself...

 

I forgot to say that the fireplace and garage are on opposite ends of the house. Why they are on the same circuit is beyond me. 43 year-old house, terrible wiring.

 

Having a battery sit fully charged is not goodmfor the longevity of the battery. It is true that the pip does not charge to 100% soc as limited by Toyota for this reason. However, even e manual recommends limiting the time that the battery sits fully charged. So, it is best to charge up right before driving off. After a year or two of havingnthe battery sit fully charged overnight, you'll likely notice decreased battery capacity.