Question about Plugging IN and charging station options

A Level 1 charging station provides standard 120 volts. It can work with any standard electrical outlet.

A Level 2 charging station provides 240 volts, and can operate at higher amperage as well, which charge the car much faster. But these cannot operate from standard electrical outlets. Then again, electric ovens, clothes dryers, air conditioners also need 240 volt connections, so it's not that big a deal to supply, you just have to hire an electrician to do it.

 

If you want to argue the point for payback for the homeowner, then you must also take into account local utility incentives which require an extra meter to be installed to qualify. The utilities require the meters to collect information about electricity usage for charging vehicles. These incentives must be taken into account so the above generalization that an extra meter will not payback does not apply to everyone.

 

You can do some damage to your Electricity bill if not careful. If already at higher tier T3 to T4 in CA (30-34 cents per kwhr) for a family and charging twice per day( 6kwhr per day) that is 180kwhr per month, your added bill could be $45 if charged at peak rates during work week. Gasoline would be similar at that price, I think. (90 cents/12 miles is about ~8 cents/mile, which is what a Prius gets 50 mpg with gas $4/gal.)

I agree 2nd meter or 240V charger is not needed.
I moved to PGE E-9 time based rate and get 3 cents / kWhr after Midnight, and purposely not charge during peak (2pm-9pm)

Chris

 

Off topic, but in the picture the charger cord being used with the Prius is coiled. Toyota says "Don't charge if the cable is coiled or bundled." Just thought you might like to know.

 

Why not coil a cable....unless it was running max current and possibly overheat, but even then it would have to be bundled tight.!!

 

My SMUD (Sacramental Utility District) representative dissuaded me from going for cheaper rates simply because of the bureaucratic nonsense involved. They must install a separate meter box and line to monitor that particular use! It is all nonsense. Instead of being more economical it becomes MUCH more expensive. SMUD has smart meters which give all kinds of information on use and times, so installing another system is probably BS. This crap all started with the rust belt 50 years ago. SMUD does not want to offer discounted night rates!

 

Hey, don't shoot the messenger! I just figure the Toyota engineers know what they're talking about. OTOH, maybe it's just CYA......... or the lawyers getting in on the act. Who knows? I play it safe and leave mine loose when plugged into the car.

 

When the customer service rep tells you "it's too complicated," it means, "the rep is too dumb."

Their tiered rate system isn't too bad to decipher. If you want to switch to time-of-day plug-in vehicle metering, you can save A LOT of money on your bill IF you use very little electricity between 2PM and 8PM between June 1 and September 30 (weekdays only). That's when they'll charge you a whopping 24.41 cents/kWh (instead of the standard
10.16/18.3 cent rates). If you aren't home most of that time and don't keep the AC running during those hours, your bill will be significantly reduced. You can run your AC all day long on weekends, though. The only other unknown is how much installation of the "time-of-use" meter will cost you -- it will probably be no charge.

 

Probably just theoretical nonsense. The Toyota Engineers are afraid inductive fields may cancel each other out (somewhat) and decrease charging efficiency and produce heat. I am not a EE so I can't say, but this certainly does occur with hundreds of thousands of volts, and all kinds of other wierd things. But we are only talking 100 and 200 Volts!