Hello I have been plugging my factory included Toyota charging cable into 240Volts AC for over 2 years now and still working fine. If you want to save some money you don't need to install a level 2 charger in your parking space if you have access to two separate 120volts circuits. For example in my garage the central vacuum plug is wired to one side of my residential panel and the closest wall outlet is wired to the other half of my panel. The difference in voltage between the hot legs of these two plugs is 240 volts AC. I simply took 2 extension cords and cut off the female ends of both, I then wired the two opposite hot legs to the neutral and hot of one of the female ends, ignore both of the neutrals in both of the cords,wire both grounds in both cords to the ground prong of the same female end you have attached both of the hot legs to and you are done. You end up with two cords, each with a male end, joined at one female end. The neutrals of both cords are not used and the grounds of both cords are tied together to the ground of the female cord. You plug both of these cords into outlets that are on opposite sides of your residential panel so you end up with 240 volts across both of the female slots. You then plug your supplied Toyota portable charging cord into this female end and then into your car and it will give you a full charge in 2:10. It is now a level 2 charger. If you are not electrically proficient then have someone help you who knows what I am talking about. USE THIS CHARGING HACK AT YOUR OWN RISK. I can tell you I have been using it for over two years with no problems of any kind. It is very useful at work where the two plugs intended for block heaters in each of the receptacles in the parking lot are both wired on opposite sides of the panel so there is 240volts between the two plugs and I can charge my car in 2 hours and 10 mins. Here's a link to my youtube explanation
I wired in a new outlet in my garage, looks like I could have added a different plug to my factory charger and saved having to buy a new charger. Live and learn.
This sounds like an exhibition of the smoke theory of electricity. That holds that electricity is actually smoke circulating through the wires. Let the smoke out, and everything stops. At least it has always worked that way for me.
As I understand it, it is a humorous way to describe what happens when a circuit burns up. The joke is that smoke circulates in electric circuits, and when it gets out, things no longer work.
Yep I get the joke but your implication is that somehow what I am describing can end in an electrical malfunction. This is not my intention at all, I am simply trying to help some interested people not have to spend up to $1500 needlessly. If you are not interested in saving money then that is totally up to you but I for one wish I had known this info before I spent $1500 on a home charger for no reason. I have used my set up for 2.5 years now and have not "let the smoke out of anything".
