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Prius plug-in not charging completely

Discussion in 'Gen 1 Prius Plug-in 2012-2015' started by GCPExit12, Sep 24, 2012.

  1. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    one thing i am noticing is that my headlights seem to be eating up a lot of charge. does the advanced have more efficient headlights?
     
  2. Nipples aren't as important to me as they used to be.
     
    chesleyn likes this.
  3. leaving them on all night in the garage will do that Bisco.
     
    GCPExit12 likes this.
  4. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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  5. May I quote you on that?
     
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  6. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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  7. DadofHedgehog

    DadofHedgehog Active Member

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    RockerDan,

    Those of us who have either whole-house Time-of-Use electric use tariffs or, like I am about to have here in Virginia, normal house electric tariffs and separate-meter hardwired EVSE Time-of-Use tariffs, will benefit from the "End" charging time on the timer. For example, the cheapest dead-of-night ToU tariff in Virginia is from midnight to 5 A.M. To get the best non-dissipated charge in the PiP while using the least costly ToU tariff, I would / will specify END time at 5 AM.

    Now, just to be nice to the utility grid load, I specify START at 4:30 AM (the 240-volt line finishes charging about 5:45 - 6 AM) but as soon as my second EVSE-dedicated utility meter gets hooked up, I'll switch to setting the END time at 5 AM (which will likely self-start the charging time about 3:30 AM).

    I think that without being signed up for a ToU tariff, using the charging timer is just being nice to the region by charging at the lowest likely electrical demand time for the network, and hopefully preserving a li'l bit of traction battery longevity, whether you use the START time setting or the END time setting.

    With the PiP charging time at 240 volts that lasts about 90 minutes, that doesn't have a high price difference. However, with future model EV cars and their probably much larger traction batteries, timing the let's say five hours of 240 volt charging time to the cheapest ToU tarriff in the dead of night will become more & more important for our wallets.

    Does this make sense?
     
  8. rockerdan

    rockerdan PiP Rocks!

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    Oh definitely...I completely understand charging during off peak hours. I just thought it was odd to have a start and stop time, which is vaguely explained. It looks like you need to set start and stop times. If it wasnt for the OR in the manual there would be nothing at all. Just seems alittle quirky in its layout IMO.

    I just like the fact i can tap it now, i used to hold it, go thru the start then end times, then walk away. Now i just tap it, END time pops up(6am) and i am done. Nice.

    Dan
     
  9. GCPExit12

    GCPExit12 Member

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    All this is speculation so I guess from my own musings? From my experience, the solid battery icon switches to the 8-bar battery icon at around 0.8 EV as Ryogajyc previously said. I assume it's showing the last section of our 4.4 khw battery that is equivalent to the 1.31kWh available in the standard Prius.

    My consumption is actually terrible in short commutes. When I know I have enough EV, i go all crazy and blast the a/c, turn off eco mode, drive fast, etc etc. The upside is when I do make a longer commute, it always underestimates how far I can go and I always have energy leftover after I reach my destination.
     
  10. GCPExit12

    GCPExit12 Member

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    most logical explanation from a design perspective is to give you options. For instance at home I want it to charge at a certain time, at work I want it to charge at a different time. I can switch to "end at 8:00AM" when i pull into my garage at home, and then switch to "start at 4:00PM" when I pull into my spot at work. This way I save myself all the button pressing of having to repeatedly change the only available setting twice a day.
     
  11. GCPExit12

    GCPExit12 Member

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    you didn't give him much of a choice...
     
  12. rockerdan

    rockerdan PiP Rocks!

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    aha!...now that makes perfect sense...this works best for those who charge at work and also at home.

    I still dont see why they wouldnt just make a timer 1 and timer 2 and make them all END times, since end time seems to make more sense the start time, unless you know exactly how long it takes, which we do after trying basically.

    Dan
     
  13. CharlesH

    CharlesH CA HOV Decal #5 on former PiP

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    Scenario for the START time: I have a time-of-day electric rate plan, and I want to make sure that it does not start charging until off-peak.
     
  14. rockerdan

    rockerdan PiP Rocks!

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    (y)(y)