Throughout your time with your Plug-in Prius, how did you go about regular recharges at your location of residence? Toyota states the charging time on a Level 1 charger will take approximately 180 minutes in contrast to an estimated 90 minutes when using a Level 2. Now, considering this version of the Prius (Generation 01 of the Plug-in) has a 4.4khw battery, which is relatively tiny when compared to other PHEVs, the recharging time frame really is not too long at all. What level of charging do you use at your residence and what lead you to choose that level?
Level 1. Actual charging time is 2.5 hours on Level 1 vs. 1.5 hours on Level 2. Given the small battery size, for me the time savings isn't worth the money spent on a Level 2 charger.
I use a level 1 at home for my Prius plugin and I have wife's C-max hooked up to a level 2 so she can enjoy the cabin temperature pre conditioning (level 2 required) I installed a level 2 at work where I don't always have the time to slow charge since I'm running in & out of the office throughout the day.
Started with level 1 for about 2 1/2 years. Took about 140 minutes to charge. Then after I had ripped my basement apart because of some flooding issues and then mitigating the issues that caused the flooding, I figured I'll run a new line 14-50 plug while the basement is open. Got a Clipper Creek from wife for my BD and now takes 70 - 75 minutes to charge depending on garage temps. Now she keeps telling me how she likes the look of the Prime, so I think there was some alterior motive in that BD present. Unsupervised!
Is this 110V vs. 220-240V charging? Standard domestic sockets here are 230V @ 13A so I get a full charge in about 90 minutes.
Level 1 at both homes have been find. I knew I eventually move, so there was no incentive to install a 240-volt line in the old house. Upon moving, the thought was to do that there... especially since the 200-amp box with capacity to spare is in the garage. The delay has been to wait for a Wi-Fi enabled Level-2 charger. Having so many other connected devices at home, including a thermostat, the charger benefit is obvious. The ChargePoint app is quite handy for my not-from-home charging. Having that same type of control & data would be nice.
The car is still new to me, so I don’t mind level 1 charging. The charger plug stays outside in all weather - I painted an empty cat litter bucket, dropped a couple bricks inside and cut a notch for the cable. The other end fits under the door and stays locked inside the shed, while the remainder of the cable stows behind the flower pot.
there's no 'right' answer. it depends on what you need. i purchased a level 2 after a few months, because i'm in and out all day, and found myself constantly, plugging in and waiting. level 2 just makes the wait shorter, so more efficient for hat i'm doing. i also like to keep my battery about half full, because i have to go out on the spur of the moment quite bait. with level 2, it only takes 20 minutes to get about 90% charged.
I bought a Leaf EVSE for $200 and converted it to L2 for $20 in materials. I spent $70 in materials to install a 14-50 receptacle in the garage. So, for less than $300, I am L2 charging. Of course, I'll never recoup the cost in savings, but I wanted to learn the process and get real world data comparing charge efficiency and charging time between L1 and L2. As an added benefit, the garage is ready to charge a BEV in the future, which is the real benefit to L2 charging.
I have a Level 2...... But mainly since we had a Leaf first, and just replaced my Gen 2 with a used PiP (having the L2 already, and (permanent) HOV privileges here in Toronto heavily influenced the decision, at least until the Prime is refreshed and they put that 5th seat back.) Regarding John's comment above, I picked up the ChargePoint Home, and reporting integrates nicely with my Nest, and the app is pretty decent to track energy consumption. Only drawback is the app offers the ability to register multiple vehicles, but cannot distinguish between which one is plugged in. I don't see any easy way to toggle which vehicle is plugged in, so the history always shows the Leaf. Odd. However, looking at the charge curves, it is pretty easy to tell which cycles are the Leaf vs the PiP....
I started out with L1 initially and then when an opportunity to get an L2 EVSE for only $500 came up, I went for it. I didn't need it, but I was tired of constantly hauling the L1 EVSE in and out of the car to plug it into the garage. It was also good future proofing for an eventual EV (Bolt) that we are getting next year.
Level 1 at home and at work due to cost. It's still too early to future proof in my opinion. Costs for an EVSE have slid at least 50% since I purchased my 2012.
Initially used L1 for a few months, then found a new L2 GE Wattstation for $375 (retailed for $800 at the time) at a GM dealership that was unloading them when Coda failed and got sold to China (the EVSEs weren't sent to China). Paid an electrician $225 to set it up with a 6-50 outlet (so $600 in total). A few months later we bought a Leaf, and were able to charge it at full speed when we got home, then switched to TOU rates shortly thereafter (our electricity monthly bill stayed the same with our usage nearly doubling).
