Charging time

We have a 2012 PPI. I have been generally very happy with it. Lately I've noticed that it will not take a full charge. Several times I have come home and have been out of charge when I've plugged it in. At around 2 hrs give or take 10 min. the charger will shut off and have an estimated drive time of 8.6~ driving range. I have still been able to get close to 10 miles actual driving miles. When we first got the PPI, charge time was much closer to 3 hours and estimated range was 11 miles +/- .75. We would actually be able to drive close to 15 miles sometimes then.

We live in NW Iowa and have anticipated and noticed shorter estimated miles due to colder weather. The estimated drive miles has always improved with warmer temps. The thing that concerns me now is the charge time.

By the way I tried to attach an Excel and Word files showing monthly kwh used and miles driven but got an error stating the file was empty.

My total miles driven on EV is over 11220 miles, Kwh used was 2884 the end of last month. Best month was 736 EV miles in one month. Best miles per kwh was 4.718 miles/kwh. Miles driven in EV and miles/kwh are significantly less in winter months. Currently at about 26% EV miles. As you can tell I make lots of short (~10mile rt) trips and plug in 4-5 times per day.

Also have noticed that the EV kicks out easier when stepping on the gas from a stop, even when there is charge available. When we first got the PPI my driving habits changed a fair bit to boost mileage. I don't think my driving habits have changed much since then, but have definitely noticed that the gas engine kicks in more frequently than it did in the past.

Any thoughts?

Thanks, Paul

p.s. we also have a 2008 Pruis with about 95000 miles

 

Hey Bisco, thanks for the reply. I have been doing as you said (charge, drive till ice, charge, check) but it is hard to check every couple minutes so closest I've come for sure is 10 minutes. 3 fills today were all two hours or just under. Is there any timer in the display that I haven't found. I have a kill-a-watt meter I might start using again, as it has a time elapsed function, but I have not used that function much. I am also using the kill-a-watt meter on my electric lawnmower a fair bit. Also when I first got the PPI and used the kill-a-watt meter for several months in a row, it indicated a greater than 10% difference to what the car showed for the month. I attributed some of that to waste in the transformer so I always unplug the cord when not in use and the difference between k-a-w meter and car got better.

Thanks, Paul

p.s. I have not been able to get into the spreadsheet! Also I do not keep track of the gas fill ups as we usually only fill once or twice a month currently

El Dobro, yes the battery icon shows full, plus estimated miles

 

What is the average EV miles available on a full charge for a 2012 PPI? Mine is currently about 9.6, and will go lower as we head into winter

Thanks, Paul

 

Hey Bisco, thanks for the reply. After posting my previous post I did find several other posts that showed similar to what you said, that's part of the reason I feel that I have something wrong with mine. I would say that it is fairly flat here as well and my average speed is generally around 25 on average for a tankful.

I wonder if part of my problem is that my average commute is 8 - 10 miles and I plug it in after every commute? Just a thought.

Paul

Thanks, Paul[/QUOTE]
That has to be the lowest I've heard of during the summer. You must have some high speed sections of road? What is your commute like?[/QUOTE]

Not sure what happened, I had a long post all written and thought I posted but it didn't post, oh well here goes again.

Hey Mark, we do NOT have much for high speed driving in fact we take a little longer (time wise) route to town to avoid having to get up to highway speed for 3/4 of a mile. We usually have the PPI at 65 or above about once a month.

Our average commute is about 8 - 10 miles round trip. When we first got the PPI we could routinely drive to my wife's work, church or school, back home again and back in to any of the three before running out of battery. Now we are just about out when we get home.

We reset trip B on the odometer every time we fill gas. When we reset the mileage is usually between 800- 950, sometimes over 1000, the mpg is around 100 mpg +/- 10 mpg, and the mph is usually around 25 or so.

I took the PPI into our Toyota dealer and he ran multiple scans and all came back OK. Our PPI is the only one he has worked on, and as far as I know it was the only one in Iowa, as of last fall when I licensed it. I wish I had had the Prius technician print out the battery voltage readings, if my memory is correct they all read about 25.4~ within .2 I think. This was after driving 25 miles and the battery estimate was empty. I took the charge cord along and wanted him to charge it to see how long it took and see what the readings were when it was done but the technician didn't think that would help.

I noticed your from NE, what part? Where do you have your PPI serviced?

Thanks again to all for your thoughts,
Paul

 

Hi Chazz8, thanks for the reply sorry for not responding earlier. I have been trying to figure this out as I am not very tech savvy. I do not have an Android device, I have an IPhone instead. Is there an app available for an IPhone that I can check individual cell voltage in the traction battery?

Would the Scan Guage II allow me to check this?

Thanks, Paul

p.s. My charge time is still around 1.5 hours from empty to full. I have tried several of the things mentioned in this thread to no avail

 

My EV estimate miles have been down at 8 miles all winter. I checked with the service technician in CA where we bought the car from and he mentioned two ways to try and reset the traction battery. The first he mentioned was to take it in to a service technician and have them hook it up to there computer and do a reset that way. The other was to remove the high voltage safety disconnect in the back, let it sit for a while, then reconnect the safety switch. I did the second option, but did not see any improvement. When I took the car into a dealer/service in SD, they were not able to get it in that day. The service advisor looked on the computer and there was a service advisory/bulletin that said "the EV miles / battery charge was a known concern to owners but not a problem" (not sure exact words).
Does anyone know if there is an app for the I-phone yet.
Thanks, Paul

 

hi paul, 2 things: what's the furthest you have ever driven in ev? can you explain your spreadsheet to this dolt?[/QUOTE]

Hey Bisco, I don't keep track of it that close. Too many short 4-5 mile trips and then shut the car off. I believe when we first got it in 2012 there were times when we got 15+ miles on EV, but I don't have any records.

The first set of columns in the spreadsheet is the KWH used each month according to the last meter on the display. The second is the EV miles driven each month and the third area is the miles divided by the KWH.

Paul

I know it is hard to be specific on driving habits, but I disagree on this. As far as speed when I'm driving in EV I rarely get above 35. Yes it is cold now, but last summer the est. never got above 11 something. I try to avoid the heater/defrost/fan at all times. I open the windows slightly to defrost the front windshield. I am going to try not having the lights on during the day to see if that effects things. I think the biggest thing that affects the mileage est. is lots of short trips, but no one has confirmed that.