Plugin Charger issues

I didn't see this thread the first time it came around. It was pretty painful to read especially when OP came back after the ordeal with a clueless dealer and with instructions from Priuschat and still didn't understand how to use the timer.

The timer is really easy to use but it appears it isn't simple to setup. Reminds me of VCR's blinking 12:00. I remember it was common knowledge they were hard to program. I fiddled with it once and managed to get it to record my afternoon cartoons that I missed when the bus was late.

 

So, we have seen now two 2015 PIPs with some Hybrid systen problem!!! What is going on here?? A bad batch of parts from supplier to Toyota?

 

i'd say 2 is way below industry average. you're not expecting perfection, are you?

 

The timer looks like a last-minute, dollar-store addition to the system, and seems to work about as well as you might expect. That's why I'd use a timer in the supply circuit.

 

I am referring to the following from two new 2015 PIP owners :

WARNING in the dash, "CHECK HYBRID SYSTEM, STOP THE VEHICLE IN A SAFE PLACE" AND "CHARGE RESULT : CHARGE STOPPED DUE TO SYSTEM MALFUNCTION"

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Two as we know it here on the forum. The 2015 PIP hasn't been sold very long and how many of the new owners find their way here to the forum??

 

KISS often does give that impression.

As for it working, mine has been bullet-proof over the past 2.5 years. Any issue a new owner is having would either be user misinterpretation or a genuine problem with their particular unit/source.

 

No problems here!!
2.5 years, charging 1-2 times a day every day.
Timer works flawlessly.

 

all the ones with problems.

 

A sample size of two doesn't tell us much, does it? Oftentimes, we see defects when a car is brand-spanking new, because that's when a part or assembly defect will most likely show itself.

 

Sure does, by the odds. Probably only a few members here with a 2015 PIP, so 2 would be a very high percentage then.

 

Another PiP owner here. I dropped off my PiP last week with the exact same message: "CHECK HYBRID SYSTEM, STOP THE VEHICLE IN A SAFE PLACE". They say they will be replacing "the charger". The dealership was been a pain to deal with, it seems they had no clue about what was wrong with the car.

 

We are up to three on here and toyota doesn't know what is wrong yet!
Maybe a separate thread needs to be started to keep track?
Why would a charger give an out of the blue error message like that? I thought the PIP was supposed to function as a regular prius without ion battery?
Sounds like more than a charger issue.

 

prius screen messages are often difficult to interpret and codes are what is used for diagnosis. what does 'pip was supposed to function as a regular prius without ion battery' mean?

 

It means, "My car isn't working."

 

Technical opinion: "It's broke."

 

Car should keep running even when the lithium ion battery is depleted.

 

it does keep running, you just get the scary message.

 

it's just like the message for a bad 12volt or fob battery, 'move car to flat surface and place in park'.

 

The hybrid system can't run without a hybrid battery. The plug-in has a larger, lithium-ion battery, with a plug-in virtual partition. It also has a partition for hybrid operations, and another reserve partition, which maintains a minimum amount of energy to maintain system integrity.

That's the way I understand it, but I defer to those who have some actual expertise on the subject.