Standard Prius Prime Charger (G9060-47130) supporting 240V

Interesting. Never heard of that. Any way it could actually be 277? That would be one leg to neutral on at 480 volt, three phase system. Almost all our lighting in the factory was 277.

Not the 177 is impossible. It would just take a special transformer to get there.

 

oops - thx for the correction. it pays to spell check yer own posts. yes ... a split off 3 phase 440v.
likely too much for the puny power supply in the evse's brick?
.

 

Not as bad as my typo the other day. LOL! But, yes, I think 277 would probably trip the EVSE's protection circuit.

 

Any such "adaptors" you may find online are proprietary or DIY, otherwise, it is custom made. There was a member here @Rob43 who took orders and sold the adaptor for the members of PC, but he has not been seen on board lately. Just remember that the use of such an "adaptor" will void the warranty if any malfunction causes damages to properties (car, charger, house, etc) or injury to persons. You are advised to use it at your own risk.

 

Welcome and congrats on the pending purchase.

As @Salamander_King said, it's more of a diy adapter thing. Pretty easy if you know what you're doing. Pretty dangerous if you don't. I prefer having an actual L2 EVSE. It's about 1/3 faster than using the OEM one at 240V because the L2 draws 16 amps rather than the 12 amps of the OEM. In my situation that often makes a noticeable difference.

 

277V is common (line to neutral voltage of a 480V line to line system). Never heard of 177.

 

177VAC was a rare street light voltage in the 1960s. I have not seen it lately.

 

Not to worry. We got it sorted out. It was a typo. Hill meant 277 which is what I thought he must have meant.

Edit to add: Now that I think about it some more, I think I vaguely remember reading once something about 177 street lights, but I'd forgotten all about it.

 

HI thank you for the reply. I actually misread the original links, now I see that the custom socket consisted of 5-20R interface rather than 6-20R as I originally thought. So I have searched around on Amazon and found the following for my needs, could someone comment on how safe this would be?

So my electrical box is quite sealed up, and it is not very possible/difficult for me to add a 240v outlet in my garage. However, I found a 10-30R splitter plus a 10-30P to 5-20R adapter that should allow me to use the OEM charger at 240. Total $ around 100ish. However, since I need a splitter anyways in order to create an extra 240 outlet, I really don't consider the splitter as part of the cost of charging at 240v (unless that is, i forget about L2 charging altogether). So I could really see this a final expense of $100 or as final cost of $50 for the 5-20R adapter alone.

So these are the two items i'm looking at:

Both of these are made from 10awg wires and have very good reviews. And looks pretty sturdy.

So my setup will be connecting the splitter to my 240v dryer outlet (on a BR230 30Amp breaker). Connect my dryer and the 5-20R adapter to the two ends. And connect the OEM charger to the adapter.

We won't run the dryer and charger at same time, obviously, however if we do, I'm sure the breaker will just cut off. What do you all think? Thanks for the opinions

By the way, i'm getting the 2021 Prius Prime LE for 23800 out the door with Virginia taxes, is that a good price?

 

I just want to add this $50 adapter is basically what the $20 post was making, but obviously without the add risk of me being an amateur, and the adapter is UL certified. Plus I looked up the parts online and it seems the final cost for making the $20 adapter is much higher than the original $20 nowadays.

 

That looks to me like it will work. Just be dead sure no one mistakenly plugs something into that adapter that won't handle 220V.

If charging speed is important to you, it might pay to spend a little more on an actual L2 EVSE along with the splitter. It'll charge faster than the OEM one running on 240V because it'll draw more amps. And you have the added benefit of keeping the L2 in place at home and having the OEM one in the car for charging away from home when you get a chance to do so. Here's one example.

 

Hi thank you for the suggestion, i remember somewhere reading that the OEM charger is much better for the Prime because the plug fits exactly into the car, whereas the after market L2 chargers, the J plug might be too tight (or something about the exact fit) and you kind of risk making the car's plug too loose over time. Is that not the case anymore? Thanks in advance.

 

I got my Duosaida EVSE about three years ago. It was way tighter than I was comfortable with. So I took apart the handle and test fit the pins one by one over the pins on the car's port to see where the problem was. Then I gradually drilled out the tight ones till they fit better.

I don't have any experience with the new ones, but haven't heard any reports of them being improved. But this is just for the low budget ones. I've heard no complaints from the many people here on PC who have the more expensive wall mounted units.

 

I question this statement.
How can an ordinary 120V outlet with 240V on it be 'certified'.
If you think it's safe to have such a MacGyvered outlet hanging in your garage go for it.
But think of what happens when someone else plugs a normal 120V appliance into it.

 

I understand where you are coming from but the certification is probably only for the fact that the construction of the adapter itself will withstand the current and voltage. If someone plugs in a 120v appliance, then it's just "user error", but the cord itself should be fine, I guess?

I really dont think this is a "macGyvered outlet" since there are plenty of power adapters that can handle 120v AND 240v. My question was mainly whether this cord plus my splitter setup is safe but sounds like it should especially with the 30amp breaker in place.

 

ok thanks for that information!

 

The NEMA 5-15 is rated up to 125V. You're using it at 240V. It's rated at 15A. You're protecting it with a 30A breaker.

Both situations are inherently unsafe.

 

i'm talking about a 10-30 to 5-20 adapter, not a 5-15. Plus the charger does not draw more than 16 amp. Furthermore, a 10awg wire used by the adapter or splitter is rated for 30amps, which is exact same amp as the breaker.

 

The wires are not the only conductors. The contact between the plug and receptacle also needs to be able to handle at least as much current as the circuit breaker. It should be OK, as long as you monitor the temperature, but it's still not really kosher. It would be safer to replace the breaker with a 20A one so the whole rig is protected, assuming the dryer won't trip it.

 

Still 125V rated device with 240V on it.

The breaker has to be rated to interrupt the current before the weakest link burns. In this case, that seems to be 20A (the NEMA 5-20).