New owner questions not covered in the FAQ

Hey Matthew, congrats on your new PIP. My understanding on this is that the car is designed to maximize the life of the traction battery by keeping the state-of-charge (SOC) between 20% and 80%. Yes, a full charge actually means 80% and that's how you get your 11 or 12 miles of EV range. When the temperatures drop to 40F or below you are bound to notice a loss of indicated range after the car sits, but that's why you have the timer function.Set it to end an hour before you drive, and you'll have the highest charge your battery can safely and efficiently hold. There is no reason to interrupt the charge, but it's certainly an anticipated event so I wouldn't worry about it causing damage if you always unplug from the charging port end as directed. The car just sends me an extra email if I have to disconnect early. I'll leave it to the other guys to handle your questions about 15" wheels and the traction battery replacement cost.

 

Congrats on the "new" buggy, Matt!! Base or Advanced?

+1 on Pluggo's remarks. It doesn't hurt, afaik, to unplug early, but I use the timer religiously.

15" wheels are to save weight and therefore improve fuel efficiency. There are 17" ones available. That said, the PiP wheels look way better than the hatchback wheels. THAT said, they all look the same from the driver's seat. For me, it transportation, not jewelry, as long as it's not butt ugly.

I don't think anyone knows what a new HV battery costs for the PiP. I've heard of one or two confirmed failures and it(they) was(were) under warranty. Since they seem to be holding up so well and there are relatively few PiPs out there, dealers are exceedingly unlikely to stock them, so expect a considerable wait time in the unlikely event of a failure. I wouldn't be surprised if they have to wait for the ship to arrive from Japan.

Also, don't forget to update your vehicle information. And enjoy the new ride.

 

congrats!

swapping for the new pip (prime) would be close to impossible. it is much larger, and the computers are all different.
by the time you need a new battery, you'll either want a new car, or there should be some low mile salvage available.
all the best!

 

The PiP and the Prime have different bodies, so a battery swap is probably not easy for that reason alone, not to mention any control and charging issues from them being such different capacities.

I don't know if the European and US models are equivalent. Over here, the Advanced has lots more bells and whistles like dynamic radar cruise control, LED headlights, leather interior, heads up display, and so on.

As for leaving it charged overnight, I think there's a reason the manual recommends using the timer to prevent it sitting with a full charge, but I also hear of several people here who plug it in as soon as they get home and haven't had any ill effects from that.

BTW, I googled your location and it looks like you live in the midst of some amazing scenery.

 

i had to look up your location, sounds beautiful! please post a few pics of your new pip in the landscape if you have time.

 

I second that motion!

 

One of the normal ways people get a replacement traction battery is to buy it off a car that's been totaled, but the battery is fine. Maybe there's not that many dead PIPs out there yet?

 

We know that Gen 4 NiMH battery modules work in older generation battery pack frames.
I do not know of anybody trying Gen 4 Li-Ion or Prime modules in a PiP battery frame.

We need somebody who has the proper equipment to try & test, Todd from Tampa Hybrids (@TampaPrius.com ) put the NiMH Gen 4 into a Gen 2 case. @ericbecky is testing a Gen 2 replacement pack from @2k1Toaster . @TMR-JWAP is currently doing some extensive NiM battery testing & refurbishing.

i agree that US PiP batteries have generally not yet died.