Charging with 240 Volts

A 120V supply could be made to charge as fast as 240V, however, it would need much heavier cabling.

 

I'd like to read more about the differences.
While researching charging options on this side of the pond one has to become a "nema connector" expert or call their local electrician.
hear here,
we typically use NEMA 1-15p (2 pin) non grounded connectors for low current appliances and NEMA 5-15 (3 pin) grounded connectors for heavier current appliances, at 120V in the home. There are a few other NEMA connectors for 240V which in a typical home generally power air conditioners, (or if equipped with the electric version) a range/stove, clothes dryer, etc..
RV ( recreational vehicles/motor homes) have a fairly standardized 240V NEMA 14-50 50A connector.
NEMA connector - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
So, when you mentioned a standard 3 pin connector I had to take a look at the documentation.
AC power plugs and sockets - British and related types - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
It may take me a while to absorb that.

 

I wouldn't mind having an EV lockout. Every time I start the car, it goes straight into EV mode, and I have to switch it off. Each time, it takes away a chunk of the EV range.

 

It could take even more by forcing HV to start by default immediately.

 

I wish the car could reduce the the chunk of ev lost when resuming ev use after regen too.
I'm thinking that the ev gauge has a range of hundreths for each visable tenth of a mile on the gauge, and when I loose at tenth
quicker then usual after regen the ev gauge must have just flipped into the first few hundredths of that tenth of a mile number on the gauge.
And a lot of times unseen incline helps to eat away at ev range without visual feedback because I think I'm on the flat..

 

Since the charger is built in the car and has a limit (3.3kW) of power it can consume, I think you meant to say the "reality of EVSEsw themselves differing."

Minor nit, but with enough confusion out there about "charger" vs. "EVSE," we should be diligent in not confounding the two.

Must be my pedantic day.

Electrocution is by definition fatal. You meant "the vast majority of shocks in the US are non-fatal."

 

With the 240v in the US, you still "only" get a 120v shock if you touch any leg and ground.
The only way to get a full 240v shock is to touch both live legs of the 240v circuit.

 

Wrong choice of words, thanks for the correction.

 

In the U.S. residential power is single phase. 240V service is 120V from either leg to ground. Back when electric utilities were being deployed, there was a big argument over whether it should be DC or AC. Edison promoted DC, Tesla promoted AC. Edison was fond of pointing out that electric chairs used for executions were AC; did you really want that in your home? Due to the established infrastructure, North America isn't ever going to convert to 240V. Probably convert to the metric system first.

 

nah, just edit: 'deleted by mods', it throws everyone into conspiracy theories.

 

Three-phase power is available in most locations, but there's no real need for it in most residential applications. For everything from light-industrial on-up, three-phase is much-preferred to single-phase power because it's more efficient. The Prius also uses three-phase power for that reason.

 

The electric motors in the Prius are three-phase, as provided by the inverter. The charger itself wants single-phase AC. One of the reasons that the Europeans went with a different charger standard is to support 3-phase, which J1772 does not.

 

That's correct, but an added note; whether you can charge the battery with 3-phase power or not, it has no bearing on the 3-phase operation of the Prius hybrid system.

 

That's precisely why residential applications "need" it. More efficient use of energy, and the wiring diameter can be much smaller. This reduces the fixed cost of the infrastructure and the variable cost of consumption.

 

There might be a need, but it's hard to find home appliances that work with anything but single-phase. Besides that, it would make residential wiring a lot more complicated.

Most industrial machines are 3-phase.

 

Well, all the stuff with round pins is now obsolete, with the exception of the two pin shaver sockets that you sometimes see. So it's the rectangular three pin plug that I was talking about. I'm not electrically savvy at all,but I do know one of the key things is that our plugs are all earthed.

I was at a boarding school for a few years when 11-13 (45+ years ago now), and on Sundays we had a "quiet time" when we were all in the common room finishing homework or reading. One boy was a radio enthusiast and was tinkering away with a screwdriver. Suddenlyh let out the most blood-curdling yell as he forgot to turn off the current before poking around. He was a bit shocked but was fine after a few minutes. The days before health and safety, obviously...

 

LOL, that brings back memories. When I was that age, we had an old crank-telephone in the science lab, and the trick was to ask someone to "hold this down please" and then we'd crank it as fast as we could, delivering about 90 volts to the poor victim.

Great fun at the time, but nowadays such shenanigans would be rife with issues of safety, liability or even criminal charges.

 

I'd say you'd be locked up for that in these "modern litigious" days, probably moreso in the US, although we're heading that way here too!

"Fun" is just not allowed anymore

 

*Sigh*
I guess mild torture just isn't funny anymore...

 

around that same time, coincidentally around the same age as well, my older sister mentioned to me some interesting facts she had gathered regarding the SummerHill school on your side of the Big Pond.

I've had a few close calls myself. The electrocution story ( obviously non-fatal ) at around the same age as discussed above is, stepping on ( with a bare foot ) an unshielded 240V plug powering a light sailboat hoist. As the electricity traveled up my leg I was frozen in position and could not move or lift my foot off the plug. I still remember thinking to myself, as I made no noise during this ordeal or after for that matter, was that if this electriclty makes it up to my heart it's going to kill me. And by some unknown power, because it was not noticed by anyone else within visual distance, I somehow got my foot off that plug as the electricity was just above my hip.
Incidents like those are not easily forgotten, but are sure a learning experience.

geez is it monsoon season here, it just started raining hard here, again.