Featured Toyota Says Public Charging Not Ready For Pure EVs

That's what I did. But she still said, "You really want me to believe we bought a nice big 3-year-old Nissan in perfect condition with heated leather seats, both in front and in back, with plenty of room in the trunk and in the back seat for all our stuff and our kids just so we could keep taking the tiny cramped 1980's VW diesel that leaks diesel exhaust into the cab and the heater doesn't hardly work to go visit Mom!?"

 

yeah, i'm not so sure about this new chairman. or toyota is so big, like gm, you just can't control everyone

 

i think she's got you there

 

Guessing the heater core was clogged or valves not working, cause my friend's 1980 diesel rabbit would leak heat on your feet even when off.

 

It was more of a non-turbo diesel running way cooler than a gasoline engine (ultra lean burn) with the only option being outside air (no recirculation lever) type of problem.

 

I've seen someone selling a system that uses two different legs, 120 VAC lines combined into a single NEMA 14-50 or equivalent plug. Doubling the voltage holding the current at 15 A, NEMA 5-20, doubles the charging rate with no modification to the existing house wiring. However, a renter could use a different approach:

• 240 VAC washer or dryer extension cord. Still limited by the circuit current, an extension cord is 'less kludgy.'
• Add a 240 VAC plug to the water heater or stove circuit at their junction box.

But then I've never really worried about improving the owner's property.

Bob Wilson

 

There are definitely a lot of possibilities. For an example, the outlet outside my house by the driveway is already 20A rated (16A continuous), adding another 25% quicker charging over typical level 1 (15A max 12A continuous).

Here's another option if I also got a long enough extension cord:

Splitvolt™ - Empowering Electric Vehicle Adoption™

 

How many VW diesels of the time had a turbo? The Rabbit was a bit odd. Previous owner had installed a five speed manual. Maybe it had the issue, and heat was always on. I just remember my feet always getting warm in that car.

Diesels in general take longer to heat up since they are more thermally efficient. Using some like remote start to heat the cabin is practically pointless.

 

I remember testing this by warming up the engine to operating temps (which would take several minutes to half an hour or so) and then I'd turn on the heater and watch the temp gauge drop if I drove around town (max speed being 35mph). Although at first the air would be very hot, it would drop to the point the air would feel cold coming out of the heater. Of course that was on days the ambient temps could be well below zero °F. As far as I could tell there were no mechanical problems with the car. I replaced the thermostat more than once and the heater core was also replaced, neither of which changed how it felt during the winter. There were no leaks and we never had problems with it being hot in the summer either even though it had no A/C.

On the other hand, driving around on the highway my wife would want the heater pointed at our feet. That car would really put out the heat on the highway excet at times when we started down a mountain pass. But my problem was it would make my driving foot very hot as there was no cruise control and I had to keep my foot right where the heat came out.

 

Well, central NJ is a different climate. Don't recall being in it when that cold, but do the feet getting too hot.

Did turn on the heat of the Outback during a cold morning this winter when the temperature gauge reached the bottom of operating temp range, and watched the needle drop down into the cold range.

 

If the owner agrees, then a manual switch somewhere convenient e.g. near the switchboard, and a suitable length of correctly sized cable out to near the car might do the trick. An electrician might be necessary. Technically this wouldn't be difficult. The most difficult part might be getting permission if it's a rental property. For few more $ that Splitvolt unit you mentioned would be great. However, if you already have 16A (continuous) near the car the extra effort and $ may not be worth it.

A long extension cable at those currents or higher is probably not a great idea. Not only for safety but also the voltage drop might be too much and cause technical difficulties. This might even extend to damaging the electric equipment connected to it.

 

I would be more worried about the thermal quality of the socket and plug. A lot of residential sockets and plugs are not configured to pass as much energy for the hours needed to charge an EV. I had one case where the socket melted. No fire but eye opening.


There are numerous reports:

If you are using a new socket/plug, initially check the temperature every 20-30 minutes. If a problem, note the current going into the car and stop the charging in the car. Give it 20-30 minutes to cool off and restart configuring the car to use half the previous current. By taking successive smaller 'half steps', you can find the highest rate that won't risk melting either the plug or socket.

Granger and other commercial electrical retailers sell more robust sockets and plugs. IMHO, replacing sockets and plugs is something technically skilled renters could do ... but your mileage may vary.

Bob Wilson

 

There is a bit of a difference between 120V 16A and 240V 16A. But 120V 16A is more than 120V 12A.

 

Thanks, Bob (bwilson4web), for graphically showing the dangers sustained currents while EV charging. Long term heat accumulation clearly has an insidious and dangerous effect on safety. In my own case we had our house completely rewired on purchase and got the electricians to install good commercial grade plugs, sockets, etc.

True. 120V/12A gives 1.4kW vs. 240V/12A gives 2.9kW i.e. double. We charge overnight at 240V/8A = 1.9kW on a 16A rated circuit with new, good quality fittings rated at 10A. This is more than sufficient for the majority of commuting and city trips; it supplies 17kWh over a 9 hour period. This more than covers the vast majority of city commuters e.g. our Prius PHV battery capacity is 6.0kWh, but we seldom deplete the battery's 6kWh fully. A 1.4kW/120V/12A would supply 12.6kWh during a 9h night, so I could charge our PHV twice over at 1.4kW, even when fully depleted.

In light of the dangers outlined by bwilson4web above, if you were ever to seriously consider charging over a very long cable then perhaps also consider a step-up transformer to convert your 120V/12A to 240V/6A. Because heating and heat looses are related to the current squared i.e. P=RI^2 or P=R times I times I, then doubling the voltage to 240V would reduce the heating effect to a quarter of the heating at 120V. This would reduce the risk of fire and additionally reduce the risk of damaging your electrical equipment due to voltage loss.

 

Toyota is the new Nokia of cars. And their statements about BEV adoption reminds me of Siemens Mobile (remember them? assuming their phones were ever sold in the USA) when they insisted that mobile phones shouldn't need color screens and had one single model available at a high price, when everybody else already had several color screens models out there.
It also reminds me of Kodak and their film industry and playing catch up with digital cameras that left a lot to be desired. And it also reminds me of Ford, BMW, and VW, to name a few, that instead are embracing the EV market fully (while still keeping their ICE business).

Toyota is falling flat on its face not listening to customers and not looking at what markets are doing. Give your customers the option to get a BEV worth of your name Toyota while pushing hybrids which are the best option for markets where EV charging or BEVs are not a viable option (e.g., Africa comes to mind, as well as several other countries not investing in EV charging - Italy for example...), or you are going to disappear like Nokia and Siemens Mobile did (in a few years sure, it is an automotive market after all, not a mobile phone one - it will take some time).