Advantages of Level Two Charging?

I have access to both. Upside is it is about 2x quicker. The fact this is a plug-in and can run on petrol so there is no real battery anxiety the way there is with EV cars. Downside is possible wear and stress on the battery.

 

If you only have 1 car in your household and don't ever plan to replace the Prime with a vehicle offering more EV range, then sticking with a level-1 is a no-brainer.

For me, I'm looking back at that upgrade decision made 5 years ago. Nothing is required for me to replace my Prime with a bZ4X. The same level-2 EVSE... which I got a $500 rebate for and have been enjoying electricity discounts for ever since... will work as is. I won't have to spend a penny; yet, I will be able to enjoy a speed bump from 3.6 kW to 7.2 kW.

Way back in 2017, it seemed like a good choice for me. Now in 2022, there is no doubt it was.

 

If you don't need to make multiple trips in the same day, then the only advantage to L2 (other than future-proofing) is that you'll use slightly less electricity for the same charge since the fans & computers won't run as long. Not a huge difference and it'll take centuries to pay for itself if you have to hire an electrician.

 

In my area, they have implemented Time Of Use (TOU) rates. That means that middle of the night charging is less expensive than middle of the afternoon or evening. That does not mean too much unless your utility charges more starting with the morning commute.

On the practical side, we may run into gas shortages soon. If we do, the level two charger will add 1 mile of range for every 6.24 minutes of charge from the grid or from your solar array. That means that if you need to run two errands the same day of 20 miles each, you can do it with only an hour and a half of charging. ( overnight charge gives you 100%, about 26 miles. The first trip will leave about 6 miles of range in the battery so you only need to add 14 miles more charge to complete the second errand.

 

DrPrius shows the charge level (approximately) real time in Amp while charging, just have to put the car into -- ON - for DrPius to connect. Hybrid Reporter probably does similar, but the new version (Hybrid Assistant + Reporter + issues with google play policy ) makes the user restart the app whenever the car is turned - OFF -. - In my 17 Prime that's every 2 minutes whenever car is in - ON - ...

 

If you are using your Prime in such a way that overnight charging is all you need, there's no particular advantage to having a Level-2 charger for the charging of your Prime.

There are a couple of other considerations which may or may not have any relevance to your situation:

1. If you're using a 120-volt outlet which is shared with other devices, you may run into occasions when charging your vehicle will limit something else you'd like to do with that particular circuit at the same time.

2. If you own your house/condo, having a Level-2 charger may be of important when you go to sell your place, either in terms of value or just as an amenity which makes the property more attractive.

Toyota's fundamental idea for the Prime was based on the fact that most people commute less than 20 miles each way, so the Prime could be plugged into an ordinary 120-volt outlet while parked at home overnight and while parked at work during a typical work-day, and that would be sufficient for the typical owner. You sound like exactly the kind of end-user that Toyota had in mind.

But it has been said that "the average person" is highly unusual. Consider trying to finding an individual who is exactly average in height, average in weight, of average age, with average shoe size, earning the national average income, having achieved the average number of years of education. Similarly, the many discussions here on Prius Chat about how Prime owners use and charge their PHEV automobiles, suggest that you may be one of the very few who fit the "average driver" envisioned by Toyota.

 

I needed to install a level 2 charger for a BEV.

I will probably be using it to charge the Prius since it's more convenient to use than the level 1 charger we have been using for the past 5 years.

Has anyone experienced battery degradation on the Prius regularly using level 2 charging?

 

This is a rare possibility. I have enough solar panels and battery to have 'free' electricity 24/7 much of the year*.
Level 1 charging does not draw enough juice at once to need grid power, but Level 2 may pull enough so that my utility makes money on me.

* Winter solstice the neighbor's trees block what little sun I have, in Summer there is A/C. "It's not the heat, it is the humidity."

 

Level 2 charging has been discussed more back when Prime first arrived. Level 2 is still pretty slow according to manufactures charging specs. Even Primes Charge mode charges faster than Level 2. Not that I would want to use charge mode instead of Level 2. Prime also has the 8 amp charge setting to compliment the 12 amp Max charge setting - that can be set using the MID and takes about twice as long to charge as the Max charge setting takes. The 8 amp setting might come in handy for using Level 1 charging at 8 amps to help balance cells, but at 10 to 12 hours for a full charge not many want to even think it might be possible to balance that way. Level 1 at 8 amps might also be beneficial when pack temps are very low and very high, put more would need to be know about how Primes heaters and coolers work before during and after charging to know for sure.
Taking the pack apart, bypassing the BMS or getting a customized BMS to monitor slow discharge / charge cycling of each of the 5 banks of cells might also be a possible method. I'd think you'd want to be at least kinda sure about what goes on with the Li cells before going at them blindly, though.
A hobby charger would have to able to handle 19S and I haven't seen many that go that high, if any so far anyways.
Maybe eventually someone will publish a theory or two, but for now it still a waiting game to see how long the packs last in the wild.

 

When you talk about the slow charging rates, keep in mind that you only need to replace the power used since the last charge. So if you drove 5 miles today, you only need to replace around 1.5 kWh. This makes it practical to plug the car (in 8 amp mode) into almost any 120V outlet even if there are a few other low draw things plugged into the same circuit. A further plus is that you can charge at that rate with a fairly common extension cord, as you would use for an electric chainsaw or trimmer.

 

I've never heard of this before. Do you have a reference? When I charge at L2 at 16A, the current drops to about 3A for the final 10-20 minutes of charging as it is. AFAIK, this is only to keep the battery from getting too hot. How does charging a nearly depleted battery super slowly do more balancing? According to the manual, 8A is simply to keep a shared circuit breaker from tripping.

 

Nope only theory.