Just took my first road-trip in my "new-to-me" PiP

i fill it half way, so i only need 30 minutes to full. l2 charger.

 

no, it's mostly proprietary battery chemistry. so only the manufacturer really understands long term ramifications. toyota says don't do it, without much explanation, unfortunately.

great numbers on your road trip btw, especially with those tyres.

 

You set the timer In the car for either start time or end time then plug in, charger wiIl start automatically. I set mine for end time 7:30 am. Then I am all ready to go at 8am.

 

I just leave my timer set to end charge at 8am for my commute. At work I plug in and don't set the timer so it charges while i work, and is ready by noon in case I need the car.

 

it's easy for a daily commute, but not for those spontaneous trips that occur several times a day for some of us.

i've read about 1/2 the manual. but the faq's here are pretty helpful.

 

varies depending on location of circuit breakers and outlet. the parts are cheap, it's mostly labor, and then there's $3-400. for the L2.
try some experimentation. from an empty battery, you'll find your 80% charged in quite a short time. once you get a feel for it, you might be able to charge it for an hour or two all the time to get it around 50%, then top up another 30% in a short period of time.

 

Set your charger timer once and forgetaboutit !!!!
The Toyota PiP first Generation is a good entry point to the lower BEV but has a very limited electric range, I got tired of it and I jumped to a better equipped vehicle for a comparable price.

 

FWIW, I'm at 90k miles now and been charging almost twice everyday for the last 3 years. I charge it immediately at work and it usually sits for 8 hours until I go home. I set the timer when I charge at home. On weekends, I charge immediately because I may go out for errands at any time. Sometimes I do not and with holidays the car may sit plugged in for over 3 days. There is no noticeable degradation in battery life. I believe it's because Toyota only allows max 85% charge on the PiP which preserves battery longevity.

I remember my friend's mom bought a Lexus GS while he was in college. She didn't want to risk parking it in the sketchy lot at her workplace so she told my friend to drive it instead to school. She drove his Civic on the weekdays and they swapped back during weekends. Eventually, it got too burdensome to move their stuff back and forth every weekend so my friend just drove the Lexus all the time. Occasionally, his mom will want to drive it to a wedding or some other family gathering. Basically, my friend's mom paid $40,000 to drive a Civic with manual roll up windows and no AC.

I had another friend that refused to drive her pristine Acura Integra long distances to preserve mileage. She'd rent SUV's and such. She sold the Acura and bought another car after two years of ownership. I hope she got a good deal on a low mileage vehicle.

Enjoy your car and abuse the battery or preserve it for it's next owner.

 

No need to be concerned about battery longevity. It doesn't fully charge, which goes a long way to preserving the battery. The difference between leaving it half charged and fully charged will be negligible. Not having a charge when you need it is like having a degraded battery in that you aren't utilizing EV.

I paid something like $40 for 4 AWG wire, $20 for a breaker, and $20 for the NEMA 14-50r receptacle; $80 total. Wiring it in was easy as the attic above my garage has a built in ladder to access the space, and no insulation.

I also paid $200 for a used Leaf EVSE and modified it for L2 charging using $20 worth of parts.

 

There is one important caution remark in the manual: do not leave the car fully charged under direct sun in a hot summer day !
Anyways, it's winter now...

 

The PiP is not an electric car, it is an extended range hybrid.

Just charge it when you may, and use it when you wish. It will always be ready to go and for most of the time it will use the electricity preferentially. The rest of the time you will be driving a wonderful economical hybrid.

I try to charge 0430 - 0630 when our National Grid has least demand, just for my own peace of mind, unless I know I will need the PiP before then.

U.K. National Grid status