I am looking into buying the 2018 Toyota Prius Prime and live in Santa Cruz. The local dealer was not very helpful recommending someone who can install a fast charging station (240V) and what type. Can anyone recommend someone who can install a fast charging station in Santa Cruz, CA and what type? We think about getting a 2nd plug in in the future.
welcome! any electrician can install it. get the cheapest you can find, unless you want internet connectivity for your phone, and data reporting. tell the electrician to put in correct wiring for a second evse, and give some thought to the requirements of a potential bev. all the best!
This is $359 if you have a Costco account (price goes up 12/12): VersiCharge LVL 2 Universal Electric Vehicle Charger Figure out which "charger" you want, go with ChargePoint, ClipperCreek, or Siemens. Get the plug in type so you can move it if you move or go camping. Call an electrician and ask for an estimate to install a 6-50 (or 14-50 or whichever plug you pick) outlet in your garage. Let them know that you're buying a Prius Prime and not a Tesla. Should be less than $500 if it's a simple install. Also think of a good place to install. I would pick a spot where it will reach both cars. The charge port on the Prime is right rear. Most others are left front or front. What other plug in are you interested in?
Chris, tell us about your Garage. Do you have any existing 220 outlets there? (My garage is out of the ordinary as I have 6 220 outlets, 2 of them 3 phase) Dryer outlets? etc.? The Prime only uses 16 Amps of a 20 Amp circuit, so I installed a NEMA 6-20 for my daughters' Prime, but NEMA 10-30 and 10-50 are common and if you have one, great! Once you find or install a 220v outlet, you can find a cord that matches that spec. WWW.amazon.com/Zencar-100-240V-Portable-Electric-Compatible/dp/B075GJK2S9 This link is to a charger that uses NEMA 6-20 for 220v and NEMA 5-15 for 110v But if you notice, it comes in many other flavors of plug. So step one is to look for an outlet that already exists. (ideally your service panel is clearly labeled) Any Electrician can put in a 220v outlet or 2, ideally Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter protected. With luck there is room in your existing service panel. As you want to charge in the dead of night to get the best electrical rates in CA, the car charging will not happen when you are cooking, drying clothes, running A/C, etc. Each service panel uses unique circuit breakers for that panel, (my daughter has a Square D QO load center, so I used QO breakers) so I can't give you detailed parts, the electrician will price out Breakers, Romex wiring, and receptacles. The nebulously named Shop 220 at 14 and 16 turned out to already be in her garage, so I did not need the breaker I bought. www.amazon.com/Square-Schneider-Electric-QO220GFICP-Qwik-Gard/dp/B00DW472XE
Pretty much any licensed electrician can install a permanently mounted 240-volt charger (technically called an EVSE - "electric vehicle supply equipment") or install a 240-outlet into which you can plug a portable charger. You can buy the EVSE device yourself from any number of sources such as Amazon or even directly from some manufacturers. Or you can ask your electrician to get one for you. This is a useful PDF which will provide you with a lot of good information: http://john1701a.com/prius/documents/Prius-Prime_Home-Charging.pdf The Prime can be charged from a 20-amp 240-volt circuit, but it's recommend that you install a 40-amp or larger circuit so that you will be able to accommodate your next electric vehicle -- because we know that you'll be hooked on electric driving well into the future.
You have lots of choices, lets go over some. 1) You can buy an L2 fixed Charging Station, your electrician will wire it directly into your houses wiring. It is fixed in place and usually much more full featured. Sample, with lots of features: www.amazon.com/dp/B071YDGJYZ 2) You can get an L2 charging cord, usually much cheaper and with no features but electricity. It plugs into a compatible recepticle you may already have, or your electrician may install for you. If you have an existing outlet, you need to buy the same plug. Sample, with no features: www.amazon.com/dp/B07DHC3TVD Amazon shows you the kind of outlet it need to plug into. Now lets discuss Amps. The 2012 Prius PHV could only charge at a maximum of 13 Amps. The new Prime has a maximum charge of 16 Amps. Either should be alone in at least a 20 Amp circuit. You can buy a much more capable ESVE, (either a Cable or a Station) say 40 Amps, but your current Plug in whatever won't use more than it is rated for. More than a 20 Amp circuit powering a 16 AMP ESVE, is just 'future proofing'. In my case, my daughter's house already had a 20 Amp 240 Volt dedicated circuit going to her carport that I guess was for a generator to power her house in blizzards. I just installed a NEMA 6-20 outlet on it, and she is good for her Prime and her dreamed of Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, via a cheap charging cord. www.amazon.com/dp/B075GJK2S9 (This cord works as both a 16 Amp L2 EVSE charger when you have 240 Volts, and as a 12 Amp L1 EVSE charger when you only have access to 120 Volts. so she only needs to carry one cord)
you need a 240v outlet, and then you need an L2 evse (simply means 240v vs the L1 evse that comes with the car) there are many different units out there, and many threads here with different owners experiences. and also threads on installing 240v outlets.
