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How much does each charge cost or at least how could I calculate?

Discussion in 'Gen 4 Prius Main Forum' started by Joe Wall, Aug 12, 2024 at 11:58 AM.

  1. Joe Wall

    Joe Wall Member

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    I believe it is like 1.6 kw and I'd just need to multiply by the cost. I'm a travel nurse and looking at housing. A landlord asked so I'm just trying to do the calculations for her.
     
  2. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    What car are you asking about? Your profile shows a 2009 Prius, which should not be plugging in at all, therefore having no plug-in electric charge cost.
     
  3. Joe Wall

    Joe Wall Member

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    2017 Toyota Prius Prime. bought one this year
     
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  4. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    I see its battery listed as 8.8 kWh, though a standard 'full charge' will use significantly less than that. I must let others chime in on how much it actually uses, after safety/buffer margins are set aside.

    What is your local electric energy rate per kwh? If you don't know, then tell us the name of the local utility, we can look up its rate sheet online.
     
  5. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    i divide my electric bill by the number of kwh used. we're currently around 40 cents per kwh, one of the highest in the nation. a prime would cost me around $2.50 per full charge, and then you have to estimate number of monthly charges.
    they make inexpensive meters you can place between your evse and the wall plug to shoe the landlord total kwh used.
     
  6. Joe Wall

    Joe Wall Member

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    I'll be in Tuscon about 17 cents per kwh I'll looking up online. This is not where my primary residence is.
     
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  7. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    one thing to be careful about. in some states or utilities, advertised kwh price is a small part of the bill.
    ours is only 15 or 20 cents. the rest is made of of nonsense charges to get around regulators.
    and some states or utilities have 'time of use', allowing you to charge off peak at a lower rate.
     
  8. Joe Wall

    Joe Wall Member

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    Where can I get one of these meters?
     
  9. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    i'm not sure, try amazon, etc. or electrical supply houses.
     
  10. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    home depot 300905368

    and i think they make them for 240v as well.
     
  11. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    amazon B0838L6G89

    i forget what wall plug configuration the prime evse has
     
  12. BiomedO1

    BiomedO1 Senior Member

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    I'm going to assume your going to plug into a 110VAC socket, Just remember that the car is going to draw 13A off a 15A circuit breaker, so anything else on that circuit can trip the household circuit breaker, while your charging.
    If your down to the HV portion of the pack, it's usually around 6 Kwh to recharge the pack. I'd round up to 7 just to be fair. So around $1.20 a day, assuming your burning the entire 25 miles and recharging everyday. IMHO, all the other 'junk' electricity charges/fees shouldn't impact that, since it's part of the overall bill for the rest of the house/apartment anyways. The landlord could probably even get a bill credit/discount, if they register your car - check with the local utility. I get a penny/Kwh off for whatever I use from midnight to 0600, which is when I set my car to recharge.

    Hope this helps....
     
  13. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    unfortunately, our junk charges are tied to kwh usage. if they are fixed cost, ignore them.
     
  14. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    Amazon has plenty. Many hardware stores ought to have something. "Kill-A-Watt" is the traditional standard, with several versions now, but there are plenty of other similar products competing in the market now.

    At that rate, a your Prius Prime should cost in the general vicinity of $1 per electric full-up.

    Tucson Electric Power (TEP) has several different residential and business (including multi-family) rate plans, you'll need to check with the landlord what plan the dwelling unit is on.

    Rates – Tucson Electric Power

    TEP appears to show bundled rates for each plan, with a separate list below breaking out all the components in that bundle.
    North American Prius and RAV4 Primes come with a factory EVSE plugging into standard 120V wall outlets. For any 240V charging from different outlets, you must acquire your own aftermarket EVSE.

    12 amps, not 13. The later would flunk National Electric Code rules when plugged into 15A circuits. (And the charger limits to the EVSE's declared current, not power, so it doesn't draw more current when the supply voltage drops from 120V to 110V, or from 240V down to 220 or 208 or even 120.)

    It would be nice if the dwelling is modern enough to have 20 amp circuits, but that is not essential. If the circuit is overloaded at 12 amps, the Toyota Primes can be set to limit current to just 8 amps (though I believe the actual EVSE-car signal protocol will set to 7.8 amps, as 8.0 isn't on the 0.6-amp increments of the signaling protocol).
     
    #14 fuzzy1, Aug 12, 2024 at 4:28 PM
    Last edited: Aug 12, 2024 at 5:12 PM
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  15. Mr.Vanvandenburg

    Mr.Vanvandenburg Senior Member

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    From empty the battery takes about 6 kwh to go back to 100%. It maybe be a little less, but for telling the potential landlord a cost it won’t matter. I bought a number of different kill a watts now and returned a lot. I got a couple of these and it has back light which is very important, and instead of toggling each time with the buttons to get the screen you like it has separate buttons. Like for watts, push one button, volts another, etc.

    Ok link doesn’t show, search hbn watt meter for $11.99. There is a coupon and it goes for $9.35.
     
    #15 Mr.Vanvandenburg, Aug 13, 2024 at 9:58 AM
    Last edited: Aug 13, 2024 at 10:15 AM
  16. Robert21PrimeLTD

    Robert21PrimeLTD Junior Member

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    Joe, here is what my cost is. Bottom line, I spend about $20 a month to charge my 2021 Prime Ltd.

    I charge almost every day. I have charged 2 or 3 times a day, sometimes when having a lot of trips. I average 25 miles on a full charge. I use a Schmacher SC1455 level 2 charger plugged into a 240volt, 20amp dedicated circuit (nothing else on this circuit) and my utility cost averages 0.099 per kWh. A full charge takes an hour and 50 minutes. When I first installed the level 2 charger, using an online calculator, I estimated that it costs me $0.68 for a full charge. Not bad for 25 miles. Sorry for all the detail. Hope that this helps. Robert
     
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  17. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    That’s excellent information. All he needs then is his true cost per kWh.
    For me, that would be 80./month