From Toyota's FAQ: Would I need separate charging equipment for the Plug-in? No. However, you will need to have a conventional 120V outlet within about 20 feet of the charge port while parked (the charge port is on the right-rear of the car). To ensure the vehicle charges properly, the vehicle should charge from a dedicated 15-amp (or more) circuit.
The external charging system is designed to be easy and safe to use. Approximately 24 feet in length, the battery charger cable weighs just 3.75 lbs. and conveniently fits its own compartment in the trunk area. http://pressroom.toyota.com/releases/toyota+introduces+2012+prius+plug-in+hybrid.htm .
I could use a longer cord for our garage... say 36 feet or so. No luck finding it from Toyota Parts or elsewhere. Anybody in the same boat?
Looks like I need to get an electrician to come out and run a new circuit just for the car. The instruction manual says that you absolutely should not use an extension cord.
I had an interesting observation with my EU demo PiP. We have a 230V 16 Schuko plugs in Europe. PiP was charged at aprox. 2.5kW from the wall. After, let's say, half hour of charging, I pulled the plug and touched the charging two pins (not the earth one). They were quite warm. Is anyone else experiencing this? My cable to the electric box is 5mm2 thick and then it splits to 2 plugs, each having 2.5mm2 thick cable, so cables shouldn't present a source of heat. Does my charge slot have a bad connection with the plug pins or do you experience that as well?
Andi, I won't have my car until next week. I can check then. We use American Wire Gauge sizes for wire. Our 10 gauge wire is 2.58mm thick (just the conductor) and 12 gauge is 2.05mm. I have an infra-red heat gun that I can use to check the temperature of the pins. If I put in a level-2 charging station, I will use 10 gauge wire to the charger.
Thank you! When I was writing about 5mm2 and 2.5mm2 thick cable, I meant it as a conductor thickness as being 5 and 2.5mm2 thick.
I don't know why the fuss over an extension cord by Toyota. I use one as the 110v charger only uses 12 amps(1320 watts) , a little less than the average hair dryer or space heater
They (Toyota) has 2 concerns: Using a smaller gauge extension cord (should be 10-12AWG depending on length because of voltage drop and resistance), the other concern they have is that the extension cord prior to the EVSE may not be GFCI protected, causing another safety concern if the vehicle/cord are used outdoors.
I bought a 25ft - 12 gauge extension cord to use with my level-1 cable. I saw this with the charging cable. The orange cable in the back is the extension cord like the one I just bought at Home Depot. You can also see the black cloth bag that they had in the pre-production car for the cable. Home Depot also sells cloth bags. The one I saw was red and black. I'm going to go back and pick one up.
The problem is that most people do not use the right extension cord or their cord is old and the connectors are worn. If everyone has 12 gauge extension cords (think jumper cables) and the connectors require a lot of effort to plug or unplug, then there are no problems. However, if someone tries to use a white extension cable that was used for their Christmas tree lights, I don't want to be anywhere near when the charger turns on!
So, a related question. How much does it cost, in pennies or dollars, to do the typical 3-hour charge?
Look at your electric bill and see what 3 kWh will cost you. The 120 charger pulls pretty close to 1kW.
Already a thread on this: http://priuschat.com/forums/toyota-prius-plug-in/103045-cost-recharge-prius-plug-in.html
