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

The PIP's in-built AC charger can deliver up to max. 3.5kW at about 240V when charging with J-1772 or Type 2, which corresponds to the values in the displays of charging stations here. (Type 2 to J-1772 adapters are cheap to buy.) Above somewhere around 90% to 95% the charging rate slows down to about 3.6Amps (approx. 0.9kW). Our battery absorbs about 6.1kWh so when charging at these stations we seldom wait more than about 1.5 hours to 1.75 hours and leave with the battery at approx. 95%.

We do have CHAdeMO in our Japanese imported PIP. It charges at between 15kW and 17kW depending mainly on the temperature. It takes between bout 15 min and 20 min to charge from 0% to 79% or 80% (also depending on temperature).

During extended road trips we use CHAdeMO sometimes several times a day but don't use it much in normal day-to-day driving. Our normal daily charging is done at home at 1.3kW or 1.7kW using AC power like most other PIPs in the world.

 

I charge my prime everyday on 220v. Sometimes 2 and 3 times a day. I now have 215,000 miles on my 2019 Prius Prime. The range has dropped to about 17 miles and traction battery will do some goofy things like fall below the hybrid line on the dash and the engine will run to charge it back to the hybird line. Takes just a couple of minutes but the car will studder and buck under acceleration until it's charged back to normal. Sometimes it will more than charge and I'll get a couple of electric miles. This seems to be happening more often and I wonder if the battery computer is dropping cells as they die and reconfiguring the battery. Found some good deals on used battery packs and may change it soon. Doesn't look too hard to do, just need an engine hoist to remove the pack and install the new one.

 

Yes, it's likely that your battery computer is retuning the battery as it ages.

 

Here we are five years after what you quoted and I'm even less convinced that L2 charging is detrimental. At 215k miles, I think the battery is just worn out, or maybe just way out of balance. AFAIK, there is still no grid charger for the Prime.

 

I believe, Prime has active self balancing, it sure looks that way with all the wires and color coded plugs, plugged into the BMS. The only comment I have for grid charging is that by combining very soft, low speed, slow acceleration, and slow charging by changing the charge rate on the MID to 8 AMP, that can be beneficial to pack health, from what I've seen when internal resistance shown by DrPrius /. DrHybrid shows internal resistance of the pack increasing.
Granted there maybe a point of no return, beyond which these techniques will no longer make a noticeable difference, but it may be worth a try anyway no matter what condition the pack is displaying. Keeping in mind that even when removing and balancing a pack in the shop or basement, patience while navigating the learning curve is a big key for good results.

Using the engine more often, especially when pack temps are very high and or very low and or higher loads on the drive systems, can also help reduce the load(s) the traction pack has to deal with ( especially older packs ) during normal driving and can help pack health and it's cycle life.

Running the pre conditioning at least once, can also be beneficial, even more so in high and low battery temp conditions.

 

You don't need AWG 10 wire. By my measurement the OEM charger only draws 11.5 amps, so #14 wire will suffice -- as long as it is short.
Since this is only an adapter, I bought a short extension cord, cut off the plug, and connected a 240 V twist-lock plug, which I installed.

 

I don't know if this is still an issue, but at one point anyway, people found out that they could not just cut off and replace the 120V plug, since it contained a thermal sensor that the "brick" checked, and would throw an error if it didn't get the proper response from the sensor.

 

The Chrysler evse I bought new for $100 on ebay uses #16 wire. It says for electric vehicle on it. Nice unit like it, lighter weight. They supply them with the plug in Pacifica. I use it all the time.
Another much nicer is a Ford evse which comes with two interchangeable plugs for level 1 or 2. I saw a picture of a Mercedes evse and it had a similar system. The 240 v plug is the 50 amp range outlet type.
Looked on ebay and the Bolt has a evse with the two plugs similar to Ford, white in color. I would buy this kind and did buy the Ford, rather than adapt my 120 volt unit to 240.

 

I see wire ampacity charts that rate 16 gauge copper wire being good for up to 18 amps, though only with certain insulations, specifically those rated for 90°C. These charts don't rate such light gauges at all for insulations good to only 60°C or 75°C.

 

trying to picture the look on the persons face when they found this out |<snip snip>l