Charging timer; use or not?

Drains it in months, not days.

One other point is that having the battery at full charge, especially if it's hot, is bad for battery longevity. Ideally, you charge up right before you leave so it doesn't sit at full charge for long. That's another use for the charge timer.

 

[QUOTE="One other point is that having the battery at full charge, especially if it's hot, is bad for battery longevity. Ideally, you charge up right before you leave so it doesn't sit at full charge for long.[/QUOTE]
Hmmm... I've heard the opposite from Tesla literature, but they might use a different lithium-battery chemistry. Does the P.Prime use Lithium-Manganese, or...?

 

i'm retired, so never use the timer. i don't know if pip drains the 12v if left plugged in, but i generally know when i need to go out, and leave it half charged for emergencies. with an L2, it only takes 20 minutes to fill it up from there.
if i had a job, i would set the timer every day.

 

When I get to work, I set the timer to finish at 4:30 PM. When I get home, I set it to finish at 6:30 AM. It would be nice if they had multiple time settings you could save, but it's not that hard to change the time. Especially at work, I don't want it charging early and then sitting in the Florida sun all day. At home, it's in the garage, so it's not as big a deal to my way of thinking. But I can be a little anal sometimes.

 

Why can't you use multiple schedules? The manual says up to 15 charge schedules can be set.

 

Yesterday marks three weeks since I got it, so I'm still exploring. I hadn't seen that it has multiple schedules. I'll look into it. Thanks!!

 

jerry has a pip. regarding using the timer, most things apply to the prime, but not charge schedules.

 

I was just going to say the same thing. I just checked the manual again. No mention of multiple times. I wonder, though, if one could have a finish time for the end of the work day and a start time for the wee hours of the morning and toggle between them. It's not documented so it sounds like an excuse to experiment. If I set it to start at about 2:25 AM, it should be done well before I leave for work. Hmmmm.

 

i think it's one or the other, but have never used it.

 

I'll try to remember to try it out and let you know tomorrow. This car is a geek's paradise!!

 

Well, the Prime has 15 schedules.

 

There are no 'time of use' plans with my power company. I have not used the charging timer. I was not aware that it made any difference.

 

wait until you sit in a prime, makes the pip look like an edsel. information overload for this old guy.

 

check the manual, it's a bit vague, but does mention long term fully charged battery avoidance. it just doesn't define long term. and it does recommend using the timer to have it ready to go just before leaving.

 

It also means the battery will still have some of the heat built up from charging.

Hmmm... I've heard the opposite from Tesla literature, but they might use a different lithium-battery chemistry. Does the P.Prime use Lithium-Manganese, or...?[/QUOTE]The Tesla is maintaining the pack and 12volt while plugged in, plus there is the drain of the cell service. The big difference though is that the Tesla has active thermal management for the pack. Li-ion lasts the longest when kept at 80% charge, but is more suspectible to damage from heat when closer to fully charged. So for plug ins with an air cooled pack(Leaf, Prime) it is better to err on keeping the SOC lower in case of a heatwave. The Tesla, and GM plug ins, the pack can be chilled in case it gets hot out.

 

The Prime can do that too.

OM, Page 127.

“Traction Battery Cooler”
When the hybrid battery (traction battery) is hot, this function protects it by using the vehicle air conditioning to cool it before charging is carried out.

 

Haven't seen a prime yet. Did sit in a hatchback. It was nice, but I didn't think it was spectacular. Better in some ways and not in others. But I'm sure it drives nicer even though I no complaints about my PiP. And I didn't get to turn it on and mess with the bells and whistles.

 

Sounds like it makes use of cabin preconditioning to cool the pack in case of high temps, or does it have a separate loop off the A/C for the battery; the Escape hybrid and Insight had such. Does it run while actually charging the pack

Water is simply a better medium for transferring heat though. It also provides a more stable temperature. These thermal management systems usually keep the pack in a temperature range where charging is more efficient, not just when pack temperatures approach a danger zone.