4th Prius, but first Plug In! Help!

congrats and welcome!

1) yes, if you want to buy a 240v L2 evse. the stock runs on 120v, 12 amp max.

2) no, they are horrible. i keep a donut on the hatch floor, some throw one behind a front seat.

3) not sure, (i have base) check the manual?

4) i have to make sure i don't hit it when my hand is on/near the shifter, especially when i'm in ev and don't want the engine to come on. it's a terrible location.

5) welcome to the pip club, all the best!

 

I once wired a hot tub to my A/C condenser's outdoor disconnect box after installing a relay such that when the A/C was on it cut off the hot tub heater. Worked fine.

 

you can plug the stock evse into any 120v outlet as long as there isn't too much running on the circuit. otherwise, it might trip the breaker.

 

Not sure if the terminology is the same in the US, but we'd call that a "priority switch". They're fairly common here when someone wants to install a 32A EVSE (everything's 230V) and already has multiple other high current devices (e.g. electric showers - I know they're not a thing in the US!) and runs the risk of blowing the main fuse.

 

If you don't mind charging at 120V, you can just plug it into any outlet like it was a lamp or a toaster or something.

 

4) EV comes on whenever you turn on the car. If you're in a location where you don't want to use up the charge be sure to turn it off as soon as you start. I like the location of the EV button because I use it a lot in a hill/mountain area. If you are going down a long hill it will only add a minimum amount of charge in HV because it acts like a plain HV vehicle keeping a specific range of charge min to max. By switching to EV you get a full charge if you have enough total downhill distance in segments hence the need to use the EV button lots of times. On a recent 500 mile trip I got 59.2 mpg with only the original power line charge. The dash indicator said 60 mpg but it always reads a little high.

 

My Grandmother had a kitchen with only a single 15-amp circuit. She had a similar device to unplug the toaster before using the electric waffle iron. It was called Grandpa.