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Should I leave the Prime plugged in when not in use and charge is complete?

Discussion in 'Prime Plug-in Charging' started by rmnelson, Dec 6, 2016.

  1. rmnelson

    rmnelson Junior Member

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    Pretty much covers it; I'm not driving every day and just wondered what the correct procedure is. Can't find
    anything in the manual.
     
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  2. priuscatprimeguy

    priuscatprimeguy Senior Member

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    yup, it's ok, I had a 2012 PIP and then a 2015 PIP left them both plugged in after full charge and had no issues. You can even pull the plug before charging is complete.:cool:
     
  3. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    no problem, it shuts down when done charging and nothing happens after that. question, does the o/m warn against leaving the battery fully charged for long periods of time?
     
  4. priuscatprimeguy

    priuscatprimeguy Senior Member

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  5. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    i read the pip manual on a cali flight, looks like prime would require flying back to the homeland.

    page 133) leave a low level of charge in the hybrid battery when leaving the vehicle undriven for a long period of time.

    use the charging timer function as much as possible in order to fully charge the hybrid battery immediately before starting off.
     
    #5 bisco, Dec 6, 2016
    Last edited: Dec 6, 2016
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  6. rmnelson

    rmnelson Junior Member

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    I couldn't find leaving it plugged in addressed in either the pdf or the printed manual.

    Tesla S manual goes on and on about how wonderful it is to leave it plugged in when it is not actually moving down the road. Keeps the battery topped up and lets you precondition whenever you want. I was surprised to not find a single word about this in the Prime handbook; perhaps better referred to as the two hands book. 800 pages? Come on. Big jet airplanes don't have that much. It's certainly more than my attention span can handle.
     
    #6 rmnelson, Dec 6, 2016
    Last edited: Dec 6, 2016
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  7. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    what about the advice on page 133?
     
    #7 bisco, Dec 7, 2016
    Last edited: Dec 7, 2016
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  8. priuscatprimeguy

    priuscatprimeguy Senior Member

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  9. Prashanta

    Prashanta Active Member

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    My girlfriend tells me not to pull the plug early. Not sure who to believe now.
     
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  10. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    it's kind of ambiguous, but it is what it is. tesla chemistry must be different if they tell you to leave the battery full and plugged in all the time. it would be interesting to know what leaf, volt, bolt, ionique all recommend.
     
  11. Trollbait

    Trollbait It's a D&D thing

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    In the case of Tesla, it is because vampiric draws, one of which is maintaining the 12volt battery. If not plugged in for an extended period of time, the battery will brick. The amount of above buffer in a Tesla pack is likely more than what others have; 'fully' charging the pack past the regular limit for a long trip is an option on a Tesla, but they warn against doing so regularly. So there is less risk in keeping it charged.

    Any Li-ion can brick if the charge gets too low. Keeping them fully charged all the time is also bad. 80% SOC is where the are happiest long term. That is probably where Tesla has the SOC at with normal charging. Those warning against keeping the car fully charged are likely going to a higher SOC that has more risk for storing the battery.
     
  12. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    you think pip and prime have higher state of charge than others when full? both manuals recommend driving ev until engine comes on before storing.
     
  13. crewdog

    crewdog Acting Ensign Prius Prime

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    I've come to unplug as it's not uncommon for the electric power to cycle on and off at the house, usually due to wind, storms, squirrels having a play date on the transformer or a vehicle into a pole. When that happens, the vehicle will start a new charge cycle and keep emailing until the power stops fluctuating.

    Will also unplug if bad storms are on the way or forecast. We've had ef-1 tornadoes touch down within 5 miles of the house in years past, and also get frequent lightning, which interrupts power.

    Here's a neat map of lightning strikes in the U.S.

    fwiw, we have whole house surge protection on the main breaker panel.
     
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  14. giora

    giora Senior Member

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    Hard to find a manufacturer more conservative than Toyota in this respect.

    If it is for maintaining the 12V only without additional substantial parasitic drains, I think it will take several months to brick a full Tesla traction battery.
     
    #14 giora, Dec 7, 2016
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 8, 2016
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  15. David Beale

    David Beale Senior Member

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    I always thought those manufacturers who recommended not leaving a lithium battery fully charged did so because if "something" happens, there is less energy to deal with.
     
  16. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    that's an interesting take.
     
  17. Trollbait

    Trollbait It's a D&D thing

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    A PHEV will have more charge than a BEV when 'empty' for hybrid operation, but that sounds risky. Guess it depends on what they mean by storing.

    I didn't consider that they were air cooled before. The charge of the battery increases as it warms up. Relying on ambient air temperature alone could mean a charged pack could have its SOC rise into the damaging zone if left in, say, an Arizona garage during the day.

    Roadsters bricking batteries became news because of collectors that stuck the car in a storage unit without being plugged in. So it does take months, but with the over the air updates and monitoring, there is more losses than with other BEVs.

    Without the system in power saving mode, a Tesla can lose a noticable amount of range sitting unplugged for a week. A Leaf in the same situation won't lose as much range, but it doesn't have all the parasitic drains; one of which is maintaining the 12 volt. So a Leaf may not lose range, but it may not start because the 12volt is dead.
     
  18. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    agreed, that's the problem with their ambiguous wording.
     
  19. giora

    giora Senior Member

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    After depleting the hybrid portion of the battery, the PiP still has 17% SOC lower buffer, that is considerably more than any modern BEV so what exactly sounds risky?
     
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  20. Trollbait

    Trollbait It's a D&D thing

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    Well, the fact that all batteries will self discharge, so a Li-ion bricking is just a matter of time. Then combine that with Toyota's recommendation to not charge the pack before storing the car without defining what they mean by storing. Are they talking about a couple weeks while the person is on a long vacation, or of the car being parked for 6 months or more.