Toyota-Leviton Charger Install

It's actually quit simple; suppose there is a fixed amount of energy required, which is basically lost to get the charger working, suppose it's %15, well, %15 of 120V is a larger percentage of loss than %15 of a 240V load. It's just that simple, really, no "rocket science" explanations are really required.

Note: the overhead mentioned are things like the cooling fan, which can clearly be heard whie the charger is running, and the control electronics running the actual charger, all of those use a fixed amount of energy, in either case.

 

Thanks, that's simple enough, but does it amount to a hill of beans? Is it significant, or just theoretical?

 

We don't really know yet, accurate measurements need to be taken at both voltages and compared, but, yes, it is more than a "hill of beans"

 

OK then, so why is everybody obsessing about timing their charge?

 

I had my L2 charging station installed last week and love it. In particular it makes it possible to do almost all of my local weekend driving and after work errands and activities in EV since I can charge more quickly between short trips. Prior to that I didn't pick up enough charge between trips make EV mode feasible around town.

 

I don't think you should worry too much about what other people think about it. Different people have different amount of knowledge and comfort with high current chargers.

For some $1299 is stupid high because they understand the chargers extremely well. $500 install also seems high because it only take an hour to install the charger. Why sit at home all day to get a person to come to your house for a service you can do in an hour?

However, if you are not electrically inclined $1299 is cheap. It is a great deal to let someone worry about high current install and give you a warranty for 10 years.

 

From http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/08/us-karma-houston-idUSBRE8471FI20120508:

So it was not related to the EVSE.

 

Great!
Also call PGE and try to find out different electric plans. Two common ones are E6 and E9. They have different Kw rates for car and the house. PGE also might be able to help you with the 220v and rebates.

 

It's intended to be plugged in all the time. This consumes a very tiny amount of electricity, less than a penny a month.

 

Received the open_evse "stuff" yesterday. However, the relay and fuses from digikey is on back order until end of June. At least this will give me time to assemble the boards. I'm thinking of pulling 1 240V 30A plus 2 120V 20A to complete the electrical in the garage. Leviton wouldn't do that.

 

My imiev OEM charger draws four watts when idle. Measured with a killawatt.

 

Got mine installed today. Big whoop when I turned on the breaker and it all worked.
I tried the adafruit LED display, but bombed on that.

 

Someone in a thread about the 12v battery reported that they detected some charging of the 12v battery when the traction battery was charging. If that is so, this would be a reason to leave the car plugged in even after the charge is complete.

However, I wonder if the car's system to shut down the charge to the 12v battery when it is fully charged is operable when the car is NOT in READY. If this system is not operable, there would be some chance of overcharging the 12v battery. What do you know about that?

 

Okay, I understand now. I didn't consider the possibility of unplugging the EVSE because its input plug is not designed for repeated plugging and unplugging and the Leviton EVSE IS designed for hard wiring.

I read the owner's manual again and it affirms that plugging the EVSE to the car will turn off the hybrid system if it is on (in READY) so I wonder about any 12v battery charging while the traction battery is charging. Do you know anything about that?

I can confirm from tests I just did that the battery voltage was 12.6v before I plugged in the car and 13.5 volts after plugging in the EVSE to the car. This is consistent with charging of the 12v battery occurring while the traction battery is charging.