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Prime without home charging

Discussion in 'Prime Main Forum (2017-2022)' started by Kedavis, Jun 27, 2019.

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  1. lextoy

    lextoy Active Member

    Joined:
    Apr 22, 2010
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    Location:
    philadelphia
    Vehicle:
    2018 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Premium
    To the op, both advance and premium trim come with the evse auto locking function. The plus does not. Not sure about 2020 trims. I would get a meter do a charge on the convenient outlet in your lot. And show the other owners, how the cost breaks down. Explain the prime total battery size vs actual charging capacity. Like 8.8kwh vs 6kwh actual charging capacity... And cost per kwh. So they see your aren't stealing tons of money. If other resident gets a Tesla, then there's real time and cost issues, one plug not enough to share with a Tesla... But for now, you can show your usage monthly and reimburse the assoc. if they require it.
     
    #61 lextoy, Jul 6, 2019
    HPrimeAdvanced likes this.
  2. drash

    drash Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jan 5, 2005
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    Location:
    Upstate NY
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    Ha ha, well three of my neighbors are corn fields and I live between two small cities. Had to close the windows because they fertilized them the other day, ;). Most of my traveling is done between 15 and 30 miles, roundtrip to grocery stores, etc.. In all reality a BEV would more than suffice for my needs. In fact I was looking at used i3s when looking at Primes. If we needed long range travel we'll take the wife's NXh.
     
    #62 drash, Jul 7, 2019
    Raytheeagle and Salamander_King like this.
  3. Digloo2

    Digloo2 Active Member

    Joined:
    Mar 4, 2018
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    Location:
    Phoenix, AZ
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Premium
    I couldn't have said this any better. I'm in Phoenix, and use APS as my electric provider. I calculated early on that it costs me about $30/mo to charge the car. I have flat-rate billing, and it went from $89 to $123 per month about 6 months after I got my Prime, closely validating my estimates.

    I don't see any value in a L2 charger in your case. Just find a 120V outlet you can use that's near enough that the extension cord doesn't cause a hazard.

    As an idea, if you have covered parking, you might try lobbying to get the HOA to install lights for "safety" purposes. Dig up neighborhood crime reports and do some fear-mongering with your neighbors. Insist they add at least one external plug there so people can use it to hook up a vacuum or other equipment to help with their vehicles, maybe to charge dead batteries, etc.

    Also see if the power company will help with an outlet. If they'll do it for a single-family residence, then why not a 5-unit condo?

    BTW, the Prime's cable works fine at 240V. All you need is an adapter for the plug.
     
    #63 Digloo2, Jul 9, 2019
    drash likes this.
  4. Kedavis

    Kedavis Member

    Joined:
    Aug 25, 2013
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    Location:
    San Diego, California
    Vehicle:
    2019 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Plug-in Advanced
    I'm back. My thread has been taken over by a discussion of 110V vs 220V :)
    I picked up a 2019 Prime Advanced on July 1. I've posted the price paid, interface gripes, and an extension cord question elsewhere.
    So far I've charged twice at home from my own condo with an extension cord, twice at Trader Joe's, once at Whole Foods (both free), and once at the Navy base (Chargepoint, $1.16 for 70 minutes and 4 kWh (probably rounded up)). The Chargepoint app promised my 1st $10 free when I signed up but didn't honor that; they claim to be looking into it.
    The four other HOA owners are either inflexible or apathetic. Two don't trust me for no apparent reason and two haven't replied. Never mind that I spend more time and effort on HOA issues than everyone else and I recently recovered $6,300 in an abandoned HOA banking account that one one else noticed. They won't let me use the outdoor HOA outlet. It's OK, I can use a 50' extension cord or charge elsewhere when shopping.
    Chargepoint got back to me about installing a station at my condo. They said that the local incentives ran out of funding months ago, and installing one would cost $5 to $15 thousand. That's assuming we can agree on sharing the HOA power. Compared to that, the $600 for an electrician to install an outlet wired to my condo is a bargain, if I could convince my neighbor to run a 220V wire through his attic to run alongside the six other ones already there to supply us all with power.
    Again, the best option for me is public charging or an extension cord. The only downsides to the latter are that it's a pain to set up and put away, I'm worried about tripping on the long wire while doing so, and I can't close my front door or screen door when using the cord.
     
    #64 Kedavis, Jul 12, 2019
    jerrymildred likes this.
  5. Rob43

    Rob43 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 24, 2014
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    Location:
    VA, BMW Race Car, BMW R1200R, BMW 330Ci, Ford F350
    Vehicle:
    2013 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Prime Advanced
    Is there any chance that you could provide several quality pics of where this cord would go, meaning from your house to where your OE EVSE unit would plug into it ?

    That would allow for the possibility of some creative solutions.



    Rob43
     
    #65 Rob43, Jul 12, 2019
  6. pghyndman

    pghyndman Active Member

    Joined:
    Dec 27, 2018
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    Location:
    CT shoreline
    Vehicle:
    2021 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Limited
    Congrats on your new vehicle... here's to wishing you success in finding economical and convenient charging options!
     
    #66 pghyndman, Jul 12, 2019
    Kedavis likes this.
  7. evpv

    evpv Active Member

    Joined:
    Apr 19, 2010
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    Location:
    West Coast
    Vehicle:
    2019 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Plus
    Congrats on the new Prime. Sounds like you drive less than 10 miles per day so the free local charging should cover you most of the time. Just hang out at Whole Foods or TJs for a couple of hours twice a week. Check your local shopping centers, some of them have free charging. The Plugshare app shows your local choices.
     
    #67 evpv, Jul 12, 2019
    Kedavis likes this.
  8. Kedavis

    Kedavis Member

    Joined:
    Aug 25, 2013
    53
    42
    0
    Location:
    San Diego, California
    Vehicle:
    2019 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Plug-in Advanced
    My condo is one unit away from where I park. The cord goes from my bathroom out the door, past my rock garden, past the neighbor's door, and into the parking lot. I have spaces 2 & 3 of a 5-car lot with space 1 being closest to me. Measuring the slack in my 100' outdoor extension cord, I only need 50'. If I were to plug into my upstairs 220V unused clothes dryer outlet (I have a gas dryer), it's another 20' from the door to the stairwell and straight up to the laundry closet. I think I'm either going to rely mostly on public charging (free or 29 cents per kWh) or buy a 75 foot cord and a 1' 220V to 110V adapter cable and charge at home (19.25 cents per kWh).
     
    #68 Kedavis, Jul 15, 2019
    jb in NE likes this.
  9. Kedavis

    Kedavis Member

    Joined:
    Aug 25, 2013
    53
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    Location:
    San Diego, California
    Vehicle:
    2019 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Plug-in Advanced
    I should also reiterate that 2-3 miles from me are free L2 chargers at Trader Joe’s & Whole Foods, a mall (free 110V outlets), and paid L2 chargers at the zoo, science museum, and another mall. At the Navy base 5 miles away is another paid charger. So as long as I’m going there anyway and bring a book, I can get by easily.
     
    #69 Kedavis, Jul 15, 2019
    drash and jb in NE like this.
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