Using the Primes 120v Charger at 240 Volts, Cost $20 !!!

Since these receptacles are on a common breaker, you are limited by your breaker rating, which is 20 amps. If you charge the Prime (12 amps) and put a full load on the 120V side of the receptacle, you can trip the breaker. That's not a flaw, just an observation.

If you want to be able to draw full load on each side, then run additional conductors to a separate 1 pole 20 amp breaker for the 120V side.

 

Another discussion pointed out that the Prime charges at 16 Amps from 240V. That is the maximum long term load allowed on a 20 Amp breaker, leaving nothing left over for continuous loads such as Christmas lights. Though 4 Amps remains available for short term loads, such as common power tools not running continuously.

The snow blower simple can't run at the same time as a Prime charging at full rate, so it needs to be either time-shifted or put on a different breaker.

The Prime can be set to a reduced charging rate of 8 amps. This would allow additional load on the 120V side of the outlet / circuit, including just the smallest snow blowers.

 

I think that current is for an L2 charger, and that the rate through the OEM EVSE is max 12 amps. When charging on 240 L2, the charge time is 2 hours. When charging on 240 stock EVSE, the charge time is 2.5 hours.

It's not clear that the OP was running an electric snowblower, although that may be the case. I assumed the power was for the electric start.

 

Thanks for the feedback, guys. And yes I am aware of the 20A limit. I do not expect to exceed that since whenever I charge the Prius at night, I won't be plugging anything else to the 120V outlet. In the unlikely event I need to use my electric snowblower, I won't be charging the Prius at the same time. I say 'unlikely' in reference to how climate change is making snow storms less frequent in the last few years. Besides I have another 120V outlet in the porch from another circuit that I can connect an extension to. This is how I charged the Prius today. As for Christmas lights, these days LED lights draw so little power that I am not concerned about exceeding the amp limit. Last time I measured a 200-light string with my Kill-A-Watt it was just about a measly 10 watts!

 

With this information, your planned installation should work fine. Typically, you are charging the Prime in the middle of the night, and not running the snowblower until morning; so these likely won't conflict with each other. The Prime will be charged by the time you run the snowblower.

 

Right.... and because it will be at 240V the charge should complete before I even go to sleep.

 

Hey Rob, as a gesture of gratitude for all you've helped me, I would like to buy one of your custom made adapters. I could build it myself, but you probably have more practice than I do by now. As you've probably noticed, I will be using a 6-20R socket, and of course the EVSE has the 5-15P plug. I need the dongle to be as waterproof as possible since it will be sitting outdoors when charging. Let's chat over PM for details.

 

You may want to consider using a timed charge so the vehicle gets fully charged just prior to use. Per the manual this helps reduce battery capacity loss.

 

I use a charge point ev transfer . It is funny calling it a charger while it is not a charger. Tge charger is within the Prime. But I degress. I had a Electrician install a 40 amp breaker and the electric cable 50 amp max. Did that just incase I get an all electric car. Since my power is on a dedicated circuit I have no problem with power.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

Coming soon to my driveway: 240V charging! Here’s my new outlet I installed right next to where I park. It is a dual voltage outlet. It’s not live yet. Still working on it. Rob43 is making me a pigtail.

View attachment 177193


iPhone ?

 

Just got the pigtail connected to my new 240V outlet (thank you so much @Rob43). As soon as I connected it went pufff! (just kidding) and nothing strange happened. The light came on as normal on the EVSE and a couple seconds later the familiar click when the car begins to charge. I won't get a sense of a full charge yet since my car was already almost fully charged from yesterday. When it got to 100% I got notified on my iphone that the car finished charging. Next time I deplete the battery I will check how long it takes to charge.

Earlier today I finished installing the wire to my electrical panel and the 2-pole GFCI breaker and couple of hours later the post office delivered the pigtail. Since the outlet is dual voltage, I tested both 120V and 240V and both worked as expected.

 

A couple of pictures of my panel during the install... The new breaker is in position 12 and 13.

 

New installation how the new 240V wire comes out from the basement...

 

I have also received a pigtail cable from @Rob43 (thank you!) and it is working pretty good! Was previously connecting to a standard outlet at work and I recently found a spot in the parking lot close to one of the warehouse garage doors which is great since just inside is a L6-30 receptacle supplying higher power. See the picture for the current hookup!

I now need to just wall mount the EVSE to be safe from water and find some kind of holder for the charger plug. The car now charges in around 2h 30m.

One thing that was frustrating is that there is no way to see what charge level the car is at unless you disconnect the charger, *close the port* and then get in the car and turn the car on to check the miles. What gives? I wanted to measure precisely what the new charge rate was since I'm not sure exactly what voltage the supply is giving me.

The charge rate is one of:
1. 3.8kW @ 240V, 16A
2. 2.9kW (75% of 1) @ 240V, 12A
3. 2.5kW (65% of 1) @ 208V, 12A
4. 1.4kW (38% of 1) @ 120V, 12A

Obviously not 4 since I upgraded from that.