Charging with 240 Volts

The PiP doesn't use a standard 240V outlet, at least not in North America. You can either plug into a 120V outlet or use a Level-2 charger which is wired to 240V.

 

No you cannot. Look into EVSE Upgrade - Low-Cost EV Charging Solutions

 

No, the charge cord that comes with the Plugin Prius only works with a 120v outlet. You can buy an aftermarket charge cord that supports 240v (like TurboCord) or there is a company that converts your existing charge cord to support 240v in addition to the original 120v support.

That company is EVSEUpgrade.com.

 

The EVSE ("brick" between the wall cord and car cord) used by the PiP in North America has internal components which are only rated for 120V. Using an adapter to feed 240V to it will result in a very pretty fireworks display. As mentioned above, there are third parties who will modify the EVSE so it works on either 120V or 240V.

 

I assume that there's a different system for us here in Europe, notably the UK where 240v is used?

Does it therefore charge quicker with the 240v?

 

It takes 2h 20m for me to recharge at home with the standard 120v connection.

Using the 240v charger at work, the recharge takes 1h 25m.

 

that depends

 

Some people report as little as 1hr 10 minutes. I'm guessing this difference might be due to the actual charging voltage resulting in different actual kW rates.

Although "120v" can vary somewhat at actual wall sockets it is supposed to be one voltage standard. This is not true for "240v" which will actually be around 208v or 240v based on how the building is hooked up to the utility grid. Homes and small buildings are normally 240v but commercial buildings, housing complexes, and parking garages are often 208v and so will charge a little slower.

 

It would be nice if everyone that posted charging time could also post year, model and SOC before plugging in.
It might help to reduce any confusion.

 

That's no where near enough information. You also need outside, inside, and battery-bank temperatures to even stand a chance at identifying a pattern. Then there's the reality of chargers themselves differing.

 

My SOC, it is around 1-3 miles of estimated EV miles left of charge.

Usually it takes about 2 hours and 25 minutes to charge. When totally empty it is around 2 hours and 35-40 minutes.

Dedecated line, 12 gauge wire, 20 amp breaker, about 25 feet from outlet to breaker box.

I usually charge once early morning and some times early afternoon. Seems to take the same amount of time to charge.

All charging done in a heated garage.

 

no.

 

Yes, the UK model, and presumably the Irish one as well, comes with a 240v "charger" with a standard 3 pin plug. Takes about 90 min to charge from "empty".

If you are thinking about buying, and reading up on it here, note there are some differences between the US and European model, most notably that it drops out of EV at about 52 mph rather than 62, and we don't have PWR mode, we have EV City instead, which makes it even more difficult to accidentally turn on the ICE. There are a few other quirks as well, let me know if I you want any more.

 

Y'all might drive on the wrong side of the road, but you charge with the right voltage. It would be great if the US would adopt 240v as standard.

 

Why not 480 then? Full charge in 45 minutes.

I for one, am thankful we have 120V household voltage here, since I stuck my finger in a socket when I was 4 years old.

 

I'm curious as to how many more electrocutions, fires, etc are attributed to the 240v standard in Europe.

I've also been zapped back in the day when computer PSUs had physical switches. I was testing each PSU to see if it worked, and without looking, I ran my hand down the cord that had the switch, except the switch had been removed and it was just bare wires.

I wonder what voltage would be best with both safety and efficiency taken into account. I also wonder what the optimum frequency would be.

 

Unfortunately, 120V is still a lethal voltage, however the vast majority of electrocutions in the US are non-fatal.

 

The test PiP imported here I drove worked on 240V but one needed a 15A supply to charge it. I tried it briefly on my 10A setup (10A is std for Australian homes) and the cable was warm to touch.

 

We know that the voltage is 240v here and tend to deal with it as lethal, i.e. with extreme caution! The people that are killed or seriously injured here are generally Electricians working on live wires .... those numbers are still very small. Regular Joe Soaps don't touch electricity as there is a major fear of it. Would we be messing with electricity is it was 110v and less likely to kill? I hope not.

In short then, it seems that the PIP will charge quicker here due to the 240v