EVSE purchase & installation in 2017

Thanks John1710a. Very clever. I see our mileage and mpge are nearly identical at this time.

 

OK, I am still very new to this EV charging things. So far, I got L1 is what came with the car and its for 110V, and L2 is for 240V. Other than faster charging time with L2, are there any other benefits of having L2 EVSE?

 

Please bear with me. It is only my 4th day of PRIME ownership. My previous Gen3 Prius Two did not have climate-prep. The climate-prep you speak of is the remote AC thing on the dongle, correct? What do you mean by "spontaneous"?

 

Also, since you get twice the kWh per amp, there's less heat loss in the wires as well as running the battery fan for less time. But it's not enough to pay for the installation cost. Just a minor point. One nice thing, though, is if you come home and need to make another trip in, say, an hour, you'll get more juice in the battery before you have to go. That's the main reason I'd like to get one.

 

You might want to document the effect. Let me share some of my data:

This is what I typically find in a typical charge session. But if I use the key fob to enable "A/C", I get something like this:

I had let the car charge and then hit the key fob "A/C" and saw and heard the car come on. Hummm. I put the dogs in the car to get groceries and for good measure, hit the key fob "A/C" a second time.

I'm going to suggest that if pre-conditioning overlaps the primary charge, it may be 'hidden' in the primary charge curve. In effect, preconditioning winds up extending the primary charge curve.

The good thing is we are both using JuiceBox 40 Pro so we can compare data without having to worry about the sampling challenge of a ChargePoint unit. <GRINS>

FYI for those reading this thread, I live in North Alabama whereas @john1701a lives in an area with less heat, not none, just less bad (except for the d*mn mosquitoes and other blood suckers.)

Bob Wilson

 

This time of year I thought the blood suckers were all in Washington DC.

 

Naw, they call it the August recess to come home and hide-out from their constituents.

Bob Wilson

 

As long as they stay south of me. @jerrymildred might be in trouble though.

 

Hopefully, the hurricanes, love bugs, sink holes, and mosquitos will scare them away.

 

^ and I'll add the the JuiceBox 40, in both flavors, are now UL listed, making refunds and credits allowable (where offered). Many municipalities would only deal with UL devices and until a few weeks ago, left eMotorWerks out of the programs.

I've got one of their older, non internet, non-UL, non new lights versions that I got at a very favorable price along with their newer locking bracket. They even lowered the price a bit more for making one with 18 foot of cable instead of 24. I really only need 6 feet of cable where I charge.

Question: For those who have any of the eMotorWerks JuiceBox models, are you finding that it is difficult to insert the J1772 handle into the charge receiver in your Prime? I'm having to push the handle with all my might to get it properly seated to the depth where the green light goes on. I can barely do it at all; my wife would never be able to. The blue cable handle that comes with the Prime also take a lot of force, but is a little easier to insert.

 

I don't have a JuiceBox yet, but I plan on getting one. But, I would have Toyota check your charging port, because I have no problem whatsoever seating the cable (the blue one that came with the car), no force needed, usually only a little adjustment to the angle is all that is needed if the light doesn't come on right away. I've also used a Level 2 EVSE at a Whole Foods, and that was just as easy to get seated.

 

I believe @bwilson4web has used one with his Prime Plus. He will be along to share is experiences shortly.

 

I ordered a Juice Box 40 Pro... it arrives tomorrow... but still need to get the outlet installed in the garage...

Mainly... the 32 miles I get on the battery covers my commute, but would like to be able to charge up after work for trips after dinner...

 

I have no problem with our BMW i3 EVSE, our JuiceBox, or any of the local L2 chargers. But then I'm kinda big and heavy. I don't find it different than plugging in our BMW i3.

Let me suggest taking close-up photos of both the plug and receiver to see if there are any 'wear marks.' In any manufacturing there will be some variability and wear marks might help.

Do you have the same problem with 3d party, charging stations?

Side note, I unplugged once and found a slug-like, goo on the plug and receiver. Since then I check both before plugging in. Who knew slugs like electrons. <GRINS>

Bob Wilson

 

John - VERY nice choice w/ the juicebox's. They even make a CHAdeMO set up, of course it's WAY costly. Anyway - didn't see any mention of it . . . did you get the wifi versions?
thx.
LOVE how hearty the juicebox cables are. And lenghty as well !! Our Aerovironment had similarly beefy cabling ... only it was too short to support two plugins, so i upgraded with the diy cable that is puny thin ... but still code legal. It just doesn't feel as MANLY

but she who must be obeyed doesn't care, as long as it works.

The nozzles typically have water tight seals (not really an o ring, other than they are round, but kinda flattened) and it really doesn't matter which unit you have. Some of the rings get twisted a tad, and some of 'em simply get dirty. You can pull 'em out and put a silicone spray on 'em. That said, we have over a dozen J plugs for Disney employees, and when complaints were lodged with Chargepoint (the manufacturer/installer/maintainers) - all they did was remove the seal. The J plug REALLY slides in easy now ! Gotta love lazy tech's.
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