PHV charging power draw

Maybe Ken1784 or pEEF can answer and correct me if I'm wrong, but Toyota FAQ for the PHV says : "The Prius Plug-in draws approximately one kilowatt and takes approximately three hours to charge", and from that we can make guesstimate of about 12 to 14 amps depending on circuit voltage. While it would seem any 15AMP circuit might be able to handle it, I would put it on it's own 20AMP breaker if were me. Seen too many circuit breakers burn up.


Also if you had a 240V line it would only take an hour and a half.

 

If it draws 1 kW, it probably only draws 8-9 amps, or about the same as your average microwave oven.

This is probably a good engineering decision considering the smaller pack, and all the bad wiring that exists. I would charge on a GFCI outlet to be safe.

 

Oops they changed it, here is the GA power site explaining the PEV rates:

http://www.georgiapower.com/electricvehicles/rate_options.asp

They used to have a base charge and lower rates but now it looks like its a plain rate, still 5c/kwh is good for night charging.

 

I followed the links to http://www.georgiapower.com/pricing/files/rates-
and-schedules/2.30_TOU-PEV-1.pdf and it is TOU.

Excerpt:

MONTHLY RATE: Basic Service Charge $9.00
Energy Charges:
On-Peak kWh….........19.2948¢ per kWh
Off-Peak kWh……….5.8295¢ per kWh
Super Off-Peak kWh...1.2500¢ per kWh

 

Thanks for all the info in here guys

 

The numbers do not make sense. If it takes 1 KWH of charge, and it takes three hours to charge, you are putting in 333 watts per hour. That out of a 115 power line should be ( Power = Current x Voltage ) around 3 amps. Homes can power 10 amps out of a standard sockets, so why would they not charge at a faster rate? They would not need a 240 charger option.

Something is missing from the information.

 

Yeah you're splitting 1KWh up into 3 hour segments. Its 1 Kilowatt per Hour. The 240V option is the same 8 to 9 amps at 240V so it only takes 1 1/2 hours.

 

Kilowatt is power.
Kilowatt-hour (kilowatt * hour) is energy.

The draw is 1 kilowatt (8.3 amps @ 120 volts).
Charging for 1 hour therefore gives 1 kilowatt-hour.
Charging for 3 hours gives 3 kilowatt-hours.

 

It is one kw*hour per hour.

Your mistake is a common one. Power per time does not have a practical meaning. OK, maybe in flux capacitors

 

Okay...I went back and read the Toyota page better.

They said it takes one kilowatt for three hours..duhhhh thats 3KWH of energy..

That works out to about 9 amps draw...around the max for a normal wall socket.

 

Get your self one of these fine tools:



Find both legs of the 120V that the 240 volts delivers to the different circuits, and BOOM, you're re-charging your EV or PHEV in 1/2 the time.

That's what I do when I'm away from the hard wired 240v EVSE at home. The power supply in most of the 120v J1772 oportunity pass-through charger cables, that come with PHEV's can be changesd out to a switching power supply (so they can run on 208v - 240v or 120v). PC member pEEf has a link here on PC, so you can get that done to your 120v portable EVSE. Then simply google "quick 220" and you'll find the seller/manufacturer of the quick 220 appliance ... if you don't have an actual 240v outlet. They're great!

.

 

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120 V wall sockets are generally rated for 15-20 amps. So let's say 15 amps, times 80% for a continuous load = 12 amps max continuous load.

(I do note that 1500 Watt heaters are commonplace for 120 V plugs = 12.5 A continuous.)