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Charging 2 Plugins at home?

Discussion in 'Gen 1 Prius Plug-in 2012-2015' started by pokenoprius, May 29, 2020.

  1. pokenoprius

    pokenoprius Member

    Joined:
    Jul 17, 2018
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    Location:
    New Zealand
    Vehicle:
    2019 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Excel
    Hi Everyone.

    Our family have 2x 2013 plugins. We have one 240v dedicated weather safe outdoor power socket ( NZ style ) with a dedicated circiut breaker in the fusebox inside. All good there. Is it safe to plug in our second car at the same time to charge both , as long as it is not on the same circuit as the outdoor charger?

    Power cost is not a worry, as we have a free hour of power to use every day, so would be great to take advantage of that. The house is 3 years old, so house wiring quality and age are not a worry.

    I will need to find a suitable extension cord that can handle the load for the second car( wont use a standard department store cord )

    Thanks for any advice.
     
    #1 pokenoprius, May 29, 2020
  2. hieronymous

    hieronymous Member

    Joined:
    Oct 14, 2012
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    Location:
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    Vehicle:
    2013 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    N/A
    PiPs draw 10A - think 2.4 kWh heater, no difference. Your power circuits are almost certainly 15A. All trip ratings are for continuous load, peak load assume 30% higher I.e. your 15A circuit won't fall over with 17A.
    Extension cords are a bad idea period, and a no-no outside.
    Work out which of your 15A circuits has the lightest load, then plug your 2nd PiP into that. Get your sparkie to replace that circuit breaker with a combined trip/rcd module for the safest outcome..
     
    #2 hieronymous, May 30, 2020
    QuantumFireball likes this.
  3. pokenoprius

    pokenoprius Member

    Joined:
    Jul 17, 2018
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    Location:
    New Zealand
    Vehicle:
    2019 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Excel
    Thanks hieronymous, good advice
     
    #3 pokenoprius, May 30, 2020
  4. kenmce

    kenmce High Voltage Member

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    Location:
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    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
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    Should be fine. Just find a circuit that can handle a 13 Amp load.

    A 2013 PIP should pull 13 Amps, so a 12 gauge cord would work well. (Wonders if Kiwis have electrical gauges or use something metric...)
     
    #4 kenmce, May 31, 2020
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