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Newbie! With questions.

Discussion in 'Prime Main Forum (2017-2022)' started by Loriann, Sep 23, 2020.

  1. Loriann

    Loriann Junior Member

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    2020 Prius Prime
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    LE
    I am pleasantly surprised to see a forum on the prime. I just purchased a. 2020 Prius Prime last Wednesday and am loving it. I had several questions to which I seen answers elsewhere on this sight. Please forgive me if these have already been addressed.

    I charge my battery using the charge now mode. My thinking is of I should need it in the middle of the night the EV mode will be ready. I understand I could always use HV mode. What is the g advantage and/or of using the timed charge mode?

    Can I turn off the annoying beep in the reverse mode?

    I have to have an electrician install an outlet outside so I won’t need to use an extension cord. Is there a specific type of outlet u should consider? I am afraid if I install a pole it m might get hit by a well meaning neighbor with a plow. I’m thinking an in use box attached to the house but am afraid of the box on the cord in increment weather.


    speaking of charging is there a trick to replacing the cord in its compartment?

    thank you all in advance!
     
  2. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    Congrats on your purchase and welcome to PriusChat!

    The advantage of using a timer is two fold - some places have lower rates at certain times of the night so having a delayed start allows the owner to take advantage of the lowest electricity rates (say, you were using the "Start at" function). The other ("Depart at" function) is that it allows the battery to stay at full for the least amount of time. Typically in an electric vehicle or plug-in hybrid electric vehicle, we prefer not to have the battery sit at full if possible and to start using the vehicle soon after it's fully charged. This is the reason why fully electric vehicles prefer that you charge to 80% for every day use and only to 100% when you're going on a road trip or need that extra distance. For the Prius Prime, "full" on the battery meter as you see it in the car, is actually around 84-84% real state of charge so Toyota already built in the buffer. Nevertheless, the manual suggests that you drive soon after it's fully charged.

    The one last thing about using a timer is that you can also pre-condition the cabin before you leave. If you use the "Depart by" and set it for, say, 9am, then the car will be fully charged and the cabin will be heated or cooled by 9am. Note that in the middle of winter, the heater can't really keep up (it's good to about -10°C/14°F) so don't expect a warm cabin for anything colder than freezing. It's more of a fall/spring time thing. Works well in the summer since the A/C can run cool the cabin.

    Yes you can reduce the constant reverse beep to a single beep when R is activated. It requires a trip to the dealer. There is a bunch of things you can customise so I would read that section of the owner's manual and see what else you would like the dealer to customise at the same time so you don't make multiple trips. Also, some dealers do a single customisation "service" as complimentary which means subsequent changes will cost you in labour.

    240V? Typically a 14-50R is installed. This helps futureproof your outlet (50 being 50A. The Prime can only accept up to 16A but if you upgrade to a full electric car down the road, the 50A will come in handy). 14-50R is also the typical outlet type of RV places IIRC so that means you can carry your charger and plug into RV campgrounds for charging.

    Not really. I put the brick in first with the pony tail sticking out to the left side of the compartment (there's a gap there because you can store your tonneau cover in that spot too if you need to fold down the seats and use the entire cargo area so that skinny gap is also useful to store the power outlet side of the charging cable). Then I fold the rest of the cable to utilise the length of the compartment.
     
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  3. Washingtonian

    Washingtonian Senior Member

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    I have been storing the tonneau cover on the floor behind the front seats. Never thought about storing it there until I saw your post. Just went to the garage to try it but it is too long to fit in the compartment where the tire tools and charge cable fit. Am I missing something here?
     
  4. phlack

    phlack Junior Member

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    Welcome, and congrats on your purchase. I just got my Prime in June myself, and I'm still on the original gas tank. I'm wondering how long until the gas starts to go bad; I'm slowly using it up only for that reason.

    As hinted above, I make short trips. Since I'm paranoid about the battery wearing out over many years, I try not to charge it to 100%, or let it drop to 0%. I know the car doesn't use the full pack anyway for that very reason, but I'm doing a little more micromanagement.

    Therefore, i'm using the timed charge. I usually leave around the same time every day for work...around 7:20am or so. I currently have the "charge by" time set for 9am. (I may make it earlier, as I recently changed my departure time) Today, that gave me a 77% charge when I yanked it out at 7:20.
    I also only have a 10mi max round trip commute, so I'm not using much battery anyway.

    'Course, this works for me due to my consistent schedule & driving distance.

    If anything like that works for you, then you'll have to determine what the best time for the cutoff is. At the very least, you don't want it to stay 100% for a long time (which is highly subjective, I know). If you have time-of-use metering, that of course factors in as well.

    Good luck!
     
  5. PT Guy

    PT Guy Senior Member

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  6. vvillovv

    vvillovv Senior Member

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    There are a couple advantages to using the timed charge, especially here is the winter.
    Prime has a feature called PreConditioning which will heat (in the winter) or cool (in the summer) the cabin
    and the traction pack.
    Lithium, it's said likes / works best at approximately 80 degrees F give or take.

    Charging the traction pack creates some heat in the batteries (warms them up). In the winter that is good, in the summer not so much. Also, charging a too hot or too cold traction pack is also not good.

    So, the timed charge (if timed to complete when the car is to be used) will provide some heat in the traction pack.

    If combined with the PreConditoning feature just before the car is to be used, that feature also provides (some) heat to both the cabin and the traction pack, as well as some other aspects of the Primes systems.

    PreConditioning also provides cooling in the summer, but for traction pack cooling here, it's best to keep the car in the shade and as cool as possible when charging. After all it takes 6 hours to charge the car when plugged into a normal household electrical outlet.

    I did my best to make this post as short as possible while still giving a halve way decent description of some of the ways Toyota has provided Prime owners with features that can be useful during the charging of the traction pack.

    There are others.
     
  7. AldoON

    AldoON Member

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    Upgrade
    One option is to use the Carista app and OBD2 reader. It costs money but you do get a free trial period for the app when you buy the reader. You can do all sorts of stuff with the app... Well documented in other posts, just do a search.

    The Dr Prius app also let's you disable the beep... I think you also need the paid version but it's not very expensive. This app also let's you monitor battery heath. Also need an obd reader for this one.[/QUOTE]
     
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  8. Washingtonian

    Washingtonian Senior Member

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    I didn't like the beeping when in reverse so I mentioned it to the dealer the first time I went in for service. They were able to stop it with their equipment at no charge to me.
     
  9. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

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    Just to clarify, the only option available by Techstream or any other OBDII customization for the reverse beeping is to change to a single beep. I don't think they can stop it completely.

    I used OBDII dongle and phone app to change it, but after trying it for a while, both I and my wife actually preferred to have continuous beef while in reverse. I restored back to continuous beep. On the other hand, I did turn off the passenger seat warning beep, for I sometimes have a heavy bag in the seat and the warning stays on if I don't have the seat belt engaged.
     
  10. Northerner

    Northerner Active Member

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    I also HATED the reverse beep at first but got used to it as part of my routine and think maybe it helps to remind me - almost subconsciously now - what I’m doing. The original “PAY ATTENTION, LOOK BEHIND YOU!” feels more like a little tap on the shoulder now..... still mildly annoying, but maybe saving me from doing something stupid while in a hurry some day.
     
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  11. Washingtonian

    Washingtonian Senior Member

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    The Salamander_King is right, there is probably still a single beep there. The one thing I do find annoying is the collision warning on the front of the car when I am in reverse and backing out of my garage. I understand the reason for a warning if I am going forward and there is something a couple feet in front of the car. But if I am in reverse, why the warning?
     
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  12. Trollbait

    Trollbait It's a D&D thing

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    The EVSE(what is commonly referred to as the charger, or charging cord) communicates with the car through a low voltage wire. If communication isn't established, the cord to the car isn't energized for charging.

    As long as the EVSE is rated for exterior use, it should be fine outside. I would go with a hard wired one for outside, but a plug in one should be fine as long as the outlet cover can close while it's plugged in.

    Because on an inline, the car could roll forward before going back.

    But more likely the lawyers decided it was better for Toyota to have all sensors on, no matter what gear it is in.
     
  13. David9962000

    David9962000 Member

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    I solved that problem by turning off RTCA with Carista.

    And I lowered the volume of the parking sensors and did the 1 beep reverse. It is much better.
     
  14. Washingtonian

    Washingtonian Senior Member

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    Well, I certainly wouldn't want to turn off the rear cross traffic alert as it has saved me more than once. And I don't think that it has anything to do with the proximity sensor in the front of the car that is giving me a visual and audible warning when I am backing out of my (level) garage.
     
  15. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    RCTA and BSM use millimetre-wave radar mounted behind the rear bumper. It’s separate from ICS.