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Prime electric bill cost to operate

Discussion in 'Prime Plug-in Charging' started by PriusPrimeOwner, Jan 17, 2017.

  1. I'mJp

    I'mJp Senior Member

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    Could be.

    If some one would post a youtube video how how to remove the seat, I'd take a look.
    I suspect their is a cavity in there somewhere, that would have hold the circuit for the solar charger that we don't get to have.

    jp
     
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  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    and a nimh battery, it think.
     
  3. geguia

    geguia Active Member

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    our electric bill came back rather high as well. I charge it from empty at night 5 times a week. i'll have to investigate more but my math is way off

    8.8 kWh x 18.4 cents a kWh here in LA (need to confirm) x 5 times a week = 36$ a week but it's more like $48 increase on our bill per month!
     
  4. EV-ish

    EV-ish Active Member

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    Did you bump into a new tier ?

    If the cost really is 18.4 cents a kWh, then
    One week = 6.5*5*0.184 = $6 a week
    Then 6*52/12 = $26 a month on average

    Note that ~ 5.5 kWh go into the battery and about 1 kWh is wasted during one full charge
     
  5. bwilson4web

    bwilson4web BMW i3 and Model 3

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    Send me a "conversation" with your home address. I'll send you a spare, watt meter and you can report the actual charge applied to the car over a week.

    When done, send it back.

    Bob Wilson
     
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  6. geguia

    geguia Active Member

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    ill need to confirm but i start my charge at 11:45pm - offpeak i believe

    let's say my wife isn't too happy hehe :oops:
     
  7. EV-ish

    EV-ish Active Member

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    Presuming use of the bundled L1 EVSE, right ?.
     
    #127 EV-ish, Feb 22, 2017
    Last edited: Feb 22, 2017
  8. bwilson4web

    bwilson4web BMW i3 and Model 3

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  9. ttait

    ttait Active Member

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    I sent an email to P3 support asking if they make, or are considering a 240 Volt version. Haven't heard anything and it's been over a month.
     
  10. Lee Jay

    Lee Jay Senior Member

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    I think, with nothing but external wiring, you could make a KillAWatt into a 240V device. You'd have to be a little clever.
     
  11. ttait

    ttait Active Member

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    You mean like only run 1 hot leg through it and multiply by 2? More trouble than it's worth. I don't know how that would work since the 220V voltage is across both hot legs and Kill A Watt is a standard 110 V device.
     
  12. bwilson4web

    bwilson4web BMW i3 and Model 3

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    Or buy two and have on each leg.

    Bob Wilson
     
  13. Lee Jay

    Lee Jay Senior Member

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    Yes.

    Depends on what it's worth to someone.

    On a 240V charger, one hot is the return for the other, and no neutral current should flow. Many don't even have a neutral connection on the plug.
     
  14. EV-ish

    EV-ish Active Member

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    Ebay is flooded with cheap analog 240v meters that the utility companies no longer use.
    I regret forgetting to buy one for my L2 charger installation last month.
     
  15. hatcher8

    hatcher8 Junior Member

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    Bob can you post a picture of your voltage meter reader thing? Can you tell us how it is working and is it helping you figure out how much you're spending on electricity to charge your Prime?

    Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
     
  16. bwilson4web

    bwilson4web BMW i3 and Model 3

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    There are:
    Understand I'm not that anal about recording every kWh since often the 'free' ones have no display or like the ones at Whole Foods, wipe out the value when charging completes.

    Bob Wilson
     
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  17. 4rpr15

    4rpr15 Senior Member

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    I agree $70 seems too excessive.

    Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
     
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  18. Old Bear

    Old Bear Senior Member

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    I installed a simple kWh meter which cost about $15, not including the box, cover plate and conduit offset which added another $10 or so:

    Mounted-Watt-Hour-Meter.jpg

    sub-panel-with-kWh-meter.jpg

    Our electric rate is $0.209/kWh regardless of time of day. So it's fairly easy to figure out how much the home EVSE unit adds to the household electric bill.

    I don't have any full-month figures yet because I just got this installed on the 5th of the month. Since then, I've driven the Prime about 220 miles and used about 55 kWh net of one or two times I've used a free public ChargePoint station. That works out to about $11.50, or about $0.052 per mile.

    The least expensive gas station in our general area is charging $2.46 per gallon. So, the EV cost is equivalent to about 47 mpg.

    Virtually all of my driving is in the city, often in stop-and-go traffic. So that seems pretty good to me.

    (BTW, the photo of the meter was taken just after it was installed. It is showing 3842 watt-hours. The display changed to kWh once it reached 9999 watt-hours. Also, for some reason the EVSE is drawing only 6.48A or 1526 watts. This is probably because the car was close to fully charged. More typically, the meter shows about 15A and 3600 watts. When the car is fully-charged or not plugged-in, the EVSE has an idle power consumption of about 3.5 watts. The EVSE unit is a Leviton EVR-40.)
     
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  19. Andyprius1

    Andyprius1 Senior Member

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  20. Oniki

    Oniki Active Member

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    Could this be a DIY install for a fairly clueless person like me ?