Charging timer nuisance

First, the car won't overcharge of you leave it plugged in all night.

Second, on a Basic PiP, once you've set the timer, you just power off the car, press and hold the timer button until the charge timer icon illuminates, and that's all. Plug in the charger and the car will charge as programmed.

 

I just shut the car off, press the timer button and double-check it's the one I want, then lock up and plug in the car. In my experience it's not necessary to hold the timer button unless you wish to change the time or switch between the start and end times. I always use the timer to end at 0700 and if I need to charge at any other time during the day, I don't bother with the timer and let it start charging immediately. That's not very often though.

 

You don't even have to wait till you turn the car off to set the timer. I hit the button (not hold, jut a quick press) while I am driving home from work, whenever I think of it. Works great.

 

I charge my car at home & work, so I have to cycle my "finish time" between 7am & 6pm each time I charge.
Maybe there is a shortcut to remember multiple presets, but I have not figured it out.

 

Can you set one to be a start time 3 hours before you need it to complete and then toggle between the two? Or does it only allow one time stored?

 

You can store one start time and one end time and toggle between the two. If you just tap the timer button to set it, it will be whatever the last one was.

 

You don't have to set the timer - if you don't, it will just start charging once you plug it in. It won't overcharge, but the downside to not using the timer is that if it charges and you aren't driving until hours later, you won't begin with full battery capacity. The ideal is to set it to be fully charged right when you're heading out. I too wish there were more than one start and one end preset, tho.

 

It's not a nuisance, it's just an added feature.
Why do people have to misconstrue facts and overcomplicate things?
The Plug in Prius cannot, and will not, be overcharged when plugged in.

There is no need to get hung up about charge delay.....

The primary purpose of the charge timer is to delay an overnight charge to take advange of more economical/ecological charge rates. If that works for you, take advantage of it.
It's not a bad idea to delay a charge if you know the car won't be driven for MANY hours, like maybe while at work all day, or sitting in the garage overnight. But even that is no big deal.

LiPo batteries should not be left fully charged, and unused for LONG perionds of time, because they can develop a decrease in capacity. We are talking days and weeks of idle use, fully charged.

If already set, the charge timer button can be activated by a simple push of the button, any time prior to plugging the car. No need to go in and out of the car. The little green timer icon tells you it's set.

It's like saying a sunroof is a nuisance because you have to open it to enjoy it, but then you have to close it in case it rains. What a royal pain.

 

Thanks for setting the record straight 9G-man! It's really a well designed system and very simple to use.

radio

 

Last night was the first time I actually used the timer, I normally just plug it in and let it fill for when I need it.

So I would normally leave for work and the range would say 10.6 or so miles.

Used the timer to finish my charge at 6am. I left for work at 7:15 and it showed 11.8 mile range. Thats really the highest estimated range I have seen.

I will play with it tonight and set the timer to finish at 7:15 am and see if my range is higher.

 

I also see about 11.8 or 10.6, but it depends on whether I have the AC on or not.
Switching AC off immediately extends the displayed EV range from ~10.6 to ~11.8.

 

Interesting, I never use the AC in the morning. I don't see any difference with the AC or off, it doesn't adjust my EV range I see on the dash.

 

AC off in this case means the whole climate control system is off. Even if you have AC off, but the fan on, it'll display the lower EV range.

 

I press the off button for the Climate unit, I see it still shows the airflow as bringing in fresh air and the outside temp, but nothing else.

 

I typically charge at home at 1am, which means it's finished at 4am. I don't get into the car until 9am or so. So it's had 5 hours to sit. SoC reads out at the max of 85% and I have 10.3 miles of EV range (AC is on). I also charge at work. It usually has just finished when I get into the car. SoC again reads out at 85% and 10.3 miles of EV range. Letting it sit for 30 minutes or 5 hours while fully charged & plugged in has had no effect on range or capacity.

I've said this before, and I'll say it again, but I have a really hard time believing that Toyota's engineers would design a battery system that is so sensitive that leaving it fully charged for a few hours before you use it would degrade the battery and reduce capacity. Those warnings in the manual refer to leaving the car fully charged and unplugged for weeks or months. If it's plugged in while sitting for days or weeks, I'm pretty sure that the system will monitor the battery and give it a boost every so often.

 

Then the system is fully off. If I have the climate system on, I get an EV range of 11.4 miles. With it on, it drops to 10.6 miles.

 

I'm sure they did. It's not their problem if you can't read perfectly clear Japanese.

 

Good suggestion. works for me.

Thanks,