more questions - charging in rain? topping off? saving EV?

I charge mine in the rain all the time, had no issues

 

Refer to page 95 of the Owner's Manual for precautions during rain.

I believe you are thinking of NiCd batteries. NiMH and lithium ion batteries don't really have memory effects.

 

#1) There's no problem charging in the rain. The system is designed to protect the car and the user from any potential shock hazards. However, I would avoid leaving the EVSE out in the rain when not in use.

#2) Just plug it in when you want to charge. Toyota has a pretty good battery management system in place to make sure that the batteries are kept in good working condition. Keep in mind that when you hit the brakes, you are generating way more current than what the wall plug can do. It's designed to be charged/discharged all the time. Leaving the EVSE plugged into the car is fine as well. When the car is done charging, it'll stop the flow of electricity to make sure the batteries don't get overcharged. I typically come home in the early evening, set the timer in the car to charge around 1am, and plug the EVSE in. It automatically charges the car, and is done by the time I'm ready to leave in the morning.

#3) To save most of your EV miles, just hit the HV button when starting out. You will lose some EV miles due to the fact that when the ICE is warming up, it's in a lower power/load mode, so the battery is used to supplement the power demand. You can get some of those EV miles back, but it's not possible to get them all back. However, I've observed that sometimes when I start out in EV mode, go for a few miles, switch to HV mode, my EV range drops while the ICE is warming up, and then comes back to the point where I hit the HV button. It's inconsistent as to why sometimes I get all the EV miles back, and why I don't.

 

You press the EV/HV mode button and it toggles between the modes.

Mike

 

Yes, no light means HV mode. With the short EV range, an HV light would be on most of the time, so that's probably why they didn't put it in.

 

Full charge gets me 13.3 EV miles. If I start out of the driveway in HV mode after full charge, 10.5ish EV miles is what I can "save" for EV use later in the trip. I wish there was a "save" setting that partitioned the HV/EV battery charge. Small price to pay for +100mpg...

 

Why it's safe to charge in the rain:

When the cable is disconnected, there is no AC voltage in the cable. The electronics have a relay which switches off the flow of electricity.

When you connect the cable to the car, a separate 5V signal sends info between the car and charger. And a sensor determines that the cable is fully connected. When you attach the cable to the car, it can take several seconds for the flow of AC power to begin; you'll have removed your hand by this point.

When you disconnect the cable, electricity stops flowing as soon as you press the button on the cable. And if the orange light isn't illuminated on the car, the charge is complete anyway.

 

plus, you have ground fault protection

 

toyota determined that some % of the ev should be used up in hv. not sure why, but would love to know the reasoning.

 

True, but I think that comes into play in extreme conditions, such as a cut cable.

The only potential danger I see is grabbing a soaking wet cable that is attached to the car and charging. Before you push the button on the cable, you could potentially be electrocuted by the wet cable. But I'm fairly certain that if the cable were so wet that water brought an electric charge to the cable surface, it would have shorted out before you'd touched the cable, and the gfci would trip.

 

So, I can "top off" and just charge an hour a day if that's all the time I have?

 

Yes, no problem at all, no damage will be done to the battery.
If you only have an hour/day to charge... take a look at the 240v charging mod from evseupgrade.com you'll get 2x the amount of charge vs 120v charging in that one hour.

 

I disagree to a point .. I live in North New Jersey and have had an OutDoor Charge Station for about 18 months now and I charge in the rain or it rains during the night while its plugged in never a problem now what i disagree about is that my EVSE cord is outside wrapped around the 240 volt charger been soaked by rain and buried even in snow drifts.. Never had a problem with it and very glad I installed it ...i don't have a garage and its installed in the side of my driveway on a post

 

If you hit the HV button right away or shortly into your drive it will always use some of the EV. It won't let the battery stay above a certain percentage once the car starts getting driven. If you are below that threshold it will always replenish what is used of the EV during warmup.

I believe it is to protect the ICE. It doesn't want the ICE to be stressed when there is an alternative fuel source of locomotion. It actually happens in the regular Gen3 as well but the warmup cycle is usually at slower speeds so you tend to not notice is as much.

 

The charger seems to be fairly water-resistant. Be cautious about handling a wet connector. However, chances are slim that you will ever get a shock, due to the GFCI in the charger.

 

I don't know a way to lock out the EV mode from coming on automatically whenever you start the car. It may be just as well, because I've noticed that the EV range degrades over time as you drive in HV mode. It seems that they want you to, "always use the EV power when you have it."

 

I'm actually opposed to "topping off." My goal is for the hybrid battery to last as long as possible, therefore I want to minimize fluctuations in charge levels, which are the main cause of electrode degradation, which determines the life of the battery.