To Charge or Not to Charge(ever), that is the question...

From what I've read here, it seems the 12V battery is charged by the traction battery. So whether your running in HV or EV, the 12V should be charged up by the car.

There's also anecdotal evidence that suggests the 12V battery gets charged a little bit when the PiP is plugged in and charging as well.

If its the main traction battery you're talking about, I wouldnt be concerned at all. If running on EV 80% of the time was bad, pure EVs would be much worse off.

 

Please see my previous post. The first post in this thread assumed the capacity (4.4kwh) was the RATE of charge. That is incorrect. In my previous post I try to clear that up.

 

CharlesH: I wasn’t going to mention it, but since you did—I received my utility bill (Seattle City Light) last night, and was doing some calculations on the PiP. First tier here is 4.76 cents/kWh, second is 9.87 & generation is 90% hydro. Initially somewhat skeptical, I am now pretty keen on this car and the possibilities. (I’ve also been using plugshare.net more, and perhaps got 10-15kWh for free while out and about.)

 

With a little imagination there are lots of outlets around.