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

Since Rob43 isn't around anymore with his connectors, I found this on Amazon that has great reviews fyi:

 

Yes it looks neet, BUT I stongly suggest you to have a high quality 240V receptical and keeping the adaptor always attached to the 120V EVSE ....otherwise if you let the adaptor attached to the 240v receptacle ...then someone will eventually plug a 120V device into that adaptor....ouch.
BTW I have seen on this Priuschat board , poor quality 240V socket receptacle melted because some of them are cheap and not intented for that task.

 

I used a good quality NEMA 5-20 socket for my adapter cord build - No issues.

FWIW; a couple of 20A extension cords I bought years ago was heating up at the connectors. I'm pretty sure it was cheap workmanship. Cut both ends off and replaced them with a quality plug and socket - No more issues. Just a warning to check these things periodically while charging - things loosen up when your pushing a lot of amps through a cord.

 

EVSE Plugs and the sockets they are plugged into can heat up in the summer and cords can melt snow in the winter even at 120volts, when other conditions are just right.

 

Be sure to get the UL-rated version.

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When this thread started, I don't believe Amazon carried products like this. Buyers had to go elsewhere, I suspect Alibaba.com had it or similar. But Amazon's standards have 'changed'.

 

for some reason the picture of said item is not working for me, any chance someone can repost or ping me direct the item?

 

Bought a whole charging EVSE $109, 28 feet long, 120v to 240 V adapter short cable, water resistance, has app for monitoring charging, and a bag. The $845 Toyota one goes in storage area in trunk, or stays at home. I think 120 v is fine for my purposes for now. Hope the app works. Vevor brand direct from Vevor.

 

Very difficult to contact and resolve an issue buying directly from this company Vevor. Not recommended.

 

FYI I rigged up a 15 amp breaker, with a 14/2 romex (had it lying around or 12/2 is better for 20 amp breaker setup), and used this adapter:

for about $40 all in and the oem charger which maxes out at 12 amps at 240v works great with it. No need to screw around with making your own anymore. Super cool to the touch on both the adapter and the romex. You can not use 14/2 romex with 16 amp chargers legally but for the 12amp continous you're fine. Charges the prius prime in 2.5 hours vs 5 hours at 120.

 

Still getting mine put in. The car charger is 3.3 kw on 240, so a bit more amps on 240, 13.75 amps on each leg. My aftermarket evse is capable of 16 amps so will use the existing 2 pole 20 amp breaker already in the panel with 12/2. Even though this car won’t need 16 amps. Wanted to return it but actually not hauling out the car evse back and forth to charge at home is not a bad idea.
The long cable to the car is #14 anyway.

 

I purchased this extension cord to connect to a dryer outlet just on the other side of the back garage wall.

Quality of it looks very good. Wire is 10 gauge and the cord is very sturdy. I made a simple bracket to attach the female end to the garage wall and ran the male end through an unused dryer vent to the 240v outlet in the adjacent laundry room.

I then cut the bottom (ground) lug off the Onetak adapter shown in the previous post. The 30 amp extension cord requires an L shaped neutral lug but the Onetak adapter has a straight one (50 amp style). After removing the neutral lug with a hacksaw, the adapter plugs neatly into the female end of this cord. You can see by looking through the translucent case of the Onetak adapter that the neutral lug isn't connected to anything. It's not needed for a 240v connection. Whenever I unplug, the Onetak adapter comes out along with the EV charger cord, so there's no risk of someone coming along and plugging in a different 110v cord. This and the factory charger got me a cheap and very professional looking level 2 set up.

 

I can't tell from the pictures, but I believe that while the car does not need a neutral, it is very important to have a ground. Otherwise, the ground-fault protection in the EVSE ("Prime charger") won't work right and you can end up with high voltage on the car body if there is a problem. I hope someone more knowledgeable about this can comment.

 

For charging your car, you do not need the neutral. (However, your dryer or stove do need it.) But you ABSOLUTELY need the ground. DO NOT cut off the ground. At best, the EVSE will give an error and not work at all. At worst, if there is a short to ground in your car's charging system, it will not trip the breaker until a person touches the car and ground at the same time. That will probably trip the breaker and send someone to the hospital or the morgue.

Again, do not cut off the ground lug!!!

 

+1 @jerrymildred
Your setup may look professional to you, but the way it's described in your post, my first thought was you might want to get it inspected to see if it meets your local electrical codes.
Of course many DIYer don't get permits or inspections when adding electrical components to their homes electrical system, much less have a copy of the national electric codes available to read.

 

Yep, don't know too many people that can float or walk on water - Doh; water is a ground, unless it's distilled water

 

I think I was an industrial electrician long enough to handle checking codes, making it safe, and double checking everything.

But I get your concern. I have made lots of repairs to homes that had been wired by professionals and passed inspections. Including an unbonded neutral (a painful discovery), loose wire nuts, and loose terminal screws. Oh, and there was also the unconnected ground and reversed hot/neutral on an outdoor outlet. Those were all stuff done and inspected by people who were supposed to know what they were doing.

 

@jerrymildred I've had my share of noticing code violations ( although only in our home ) too.
That is one reason I waited for someone I knew had professional experience to post before I posted my own unprofessional opinion about the setup. I was also thinking after reading the post about the adapters, cord and that other piece, wouldn't it be a lot easier and safer to just add an extension the the circuit with a proper outlet in a box in the garage? He might even be able to fish some romex between walls - studs, instead of using an unused dryer vent tube.

 

I thought the primary purpose of this thread was about finding cheap working hacks that can't possibly pass a proper inspection ...

 

Yes, it's often easier to do it right. But fishing wires through finished walls laterally is pretty much impossible. The easier way is to drill up into the attic or down to the basement (whichever is easier) using a special ling flexible drill bit made for the purpose. Then, in the garage, I would use PVC or thin wall EMT conduit to the receptacle. Obviously, the adapters carry some safety concerns, but they can do the job and can be made safe if done right, but still wouldn't meet the code.

Nice! Once again I wish the forum software supported more than just a "Like" button. More like this:
Well, shoot. The forum won't let me upload any images at the moment. Even after restarting the browser. But I know you get it.