charging the Prime.....

I owned my 2012 pip for five years, 103,000 miles, and I charged every time it was down at all and the charger was available. I had no problems whatsoever doing that. This is what I'm currently doing with my Prime Advanced. The reason that I'm doing this, is because I never know what types of trips I'm going to take on a daily basis. Just call me a Boy Scout, I'm always prepared!

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For battery longevity, it's best to keep it away from a full-charge for long periods, especially if it's hot.

On trips I know are well within its range (which is the vast majority of my trips), I've been charging to between 80% and 95% of the EV range, and I recharge on the timer when I can.

As for doing many cycles between, say, 40% and 60% versus half as many cycles between 30% and 70%, that doesn't matter very much. Staying away from full charge and full discharge (which the Prime does for you - full discharge is around 20% of the actual battery capacity and full charge is in the 80% range) is where it's at. I do what I do to stay even farther away. But I tend to keep cars for a long time (kept my 2004 for 13 years).

 

I agree with LeeJay based on what I read on the Li-ion battery. 30-70% state of charge as a range to aim for seems ideal to me if one is very interested in getting the longest battery life based on charging method. Many people will not agree with this but from what I've read charging gently at 8A rather than the default 12A or by L2 charging would also help battery life, but perhaps not enough to justify the extra time charging takes. Not driving at high speed (high discharge rate) in EV mode will help prolong battery life also. I generally keep EV top speed at 45 mph for this reason.

I start charging around 30% to 23% but always let the system stop the charge at 80% due to convenience with a departure time set. I guess that setting a later depart time than what my actual intention is will allow me to go to 70% charge rather than the 80% I get each time now. I believe I read a warning that the battery needs to occassionally be fully charged (80%) to keep the cells in balance.

Does anyone know if pulling the cable out of the the charging port on the Prime will hurt anything if charging is interupted before fully charge (80%) is reached?

 

I did that once while it was still charging with no ill effects that I noticed.

 

Does anyone know if pulling the cable out of the the charging port on the Prime will hurt anything if charging is interupted before fully charge (80%) is reached?

My car groaned a little when I tried it

 

It will not hurt anything.

 

My car (Christine) has feelings

Christine (1983 film) - Wikipedia

 

I do it (have done it, 2012 PIP) all the time. This is now over a period of 5 1/2 years, PIP had 103,000 miles; no problem. I didn't buy the car for the next guy, nor do I plan to keep my Prime more than 5 years. There's just too much new technology out there to sit on the sidelines (if you can afford it), or else I could croak by the time any battery becomes a problem, , Har, har! Remember kids, Consumer Reports has said that the Prius is the most reliable automobile out there, including the battery! That's gotta say something.

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Regarding recharging the Prime as you drive, by holding in the HV/EV button til the dash indicator shows EV/Charging.
(The button is the middle of 3 buttons to the right of the shifter.) I did this while returning from Palmdale, CA, 3pm, about 54° Fahrenheit, driving south on Hwy 14 at about 60-65 MPH. I was able to raise the EV-only range from 0 to 26.6 miles; I'm not sure the amount of time it took, but probably close to the published 40 minutes. I did try to charge on downgrades, while turning off charging for upgrades. The overall elevation went from about 3000 ft to about 800 ft during the charging. When the car automatically turned off the charging (at 26.6 miles), I kept the car in HV mode til my distance from the house was about 25 miles, and then returned car to EV mode. My overall mileage on slightly over 200-mile trip was over 70 MPG. Damn good for such a large and heavy car!! (Hey, I'm used to 1800 - 2300 Lb, 2-door cars!!) Upon recharging at home, I was able to get the car charged up to 32 EV miles. Just to tick off all you Midwesterners and Easterners (Oh, let's not foget my friends, the Canadians, eh!), my stupid city is going to see 93° degrees, Wednesday, and maybe Thanksgiving too!! Ridiculous!!

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thanks

 

Hey you send precipitation and I'll send back heat!! Deal??!! Har,har

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Partial charges have not hurt my Prime.

Full charges have not hurt my Prime.

Charging outside below freezing has not hurt my Prime.

Charging using CHG mode at any time has not hurt my Prime.

Using only HV Mode has not hurt my Prime.

State of charge when you get to "0%" is actually 14% according to my ScanGaugeII.

Doesn't tick me off. You can keep the heat. I get to use my heated steering wheel and not have to sweat and blast A/C (also an EV range dampener, much more so than the wheel).

 

That's my point, I HATE the stinking heat!! I would love to see just a LITTLE rain; PLEASE!! It's the irony of life. As the Stones sing, "You can't always get what you want...but if you try sometimes, you get what you need"!

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BTW Mr. Priuscatprimeguy, that was a most excellent graphic reply to one of my posts. Please accept my commendation for Outstanding Performance !! It appears that your neighborhood is suffering from gale-like conditions as evidenced by the little puppy's elevated rear area!! Har, har!

You've got a "groaner" ??!!
I do it to mine all the time, especially when I get called for emergencies; my Prime makes Zen-like response: silence.... There is however, a foreboding glimmer in it's headlights, with a look that says, "I will get you, Grasshopper!!"

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anything I can do to help

 

At the risk of sounding like I try to keep things simple (which is decidedly true!)... I always drive in EV mode (I'm talking about local / in-town driving here) until the battery has totally run out of "juice" and PIPPPIN switches over to HV on his own. THEN, upon getting home (usually after having driven no more than 3 or 4 miles in HV mode) I just plug 'er in until fully charged.

SO FAR: I've only had one instance in which I was charging the car and "had" to go somewhere. I unplugged it, did NOT notice anything "unusual" regarding sounds or lights or whatever, and simply went on my merry way (with the car showing an estimated EV range of about 17 miles). Upon returning from the 4 to 5 mile trip (the displayed / estimated range was down to 12-or-so), I plugged it in again and it finished charging after about three hours. I don't have a daily commute like most people here do, so I have not yet used the "timed" charging... plugging it in and setting it to start charging OR be done charging at a certain time.

 

With "rain" like this , I would DEFINITELY prefer to just put up with excessive heat!

 

We've got such a bad water shortage here in California, that the dog wouldn't be allowed to "perform" unless it were an even or odd numbered day, based on address!! A truly "ration"al response!!

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Technical term is chargus interuptus.