Full recharge of Prime in just 1hr 17m

Yesterday, we got back home from a trip up north. After unloading the Prime (which holds far more cargo than the raised floor leads you to assume), I went to plug in. It had been a whole week with only that single original, which I used sparingly while away. No place to recharge.

Yet, overall efficiency for the 618 miles of driving was an amazing 61.8 MPG. That's especially impressive when you realize the temperature varied between 47°F and 65°F, which meant no more warm-season engine startups and running the heater. We had to deal with rain a few times too.

Anywho, after a little bit of plugging in. I grabbed my phone to check on charger status. Nothing. Huh? Turns out, I needed to reset the extender for my Wi-Fi. For some reason, the channel for the garage was out. After that quick fix, the charger displayed status. I took a quick print-screen, not realizing the significance of that moment I just captured...



An hour later, I got a notify that charging had finished. Again, I wasn't paying close attention, but took print-screens. After all, I had gone an entire week without recharging. My desire for a full battery-pack had peaked. It was especially interesting, since that was the first time my wife had actually plugged in to recharge at the very same time. We installed 2 independent 40-amp lines for that benefit, why not take advantage?



Notice anything? That full recharge (5.8 kWh) only took 1 hour and 17 mins to complete! How could it take so much less time? It usually requires about 30 minutes longer and my history logs clearly confirm that.





Anyone have an idea what the circumstances could have been to get electricity so much faster?

Nothing looks out of the ordinary. I routinely see a sustained charge-rate of 3.6 kW.

 

That's normal. Remember, the HV value varies... especially when you regen from a fast road, just prior to turning into your neighborhood. The point is this was routine. Same charger at home I've been using for months.

Fall has begun though. Temperatures are dropping. Perhaps the colder pack can take more of an initial punch.

 

Nope. I got a push notification from Toyota about completion. A minute later came the one from JuiceBox. A minute following that, I ran out to the garage to confirm the pack really was displaying 100% capacity. That's 3 separate confirms. Good thing I suddenly realized the significance of what I was seeing.

On top of that, I checked Google timeline and confirmed events with my wife (since she plugged in at the same time).

Notice the timeline in the graph. 15:39:35 is what the detail states, when I click on the start time. 16:56:41 is the last non-zero entry.

 

Nope, I haven't had a chance yet.

As for time expectations... 3.6 kW rate would mean 3.6 kWh after 1 hour of charging.

So... something isn't right. I'd like to blame the clock on the charger, but that doesn't fit the clues available.

My charger can actually deliver a sustained 32 amps, but this model Prime isn't setup for that.

 

That was the hope, but a little odd with respect to still tracking kWh per session. Perhaps it's a bug I stumbled across.

You have any idea what the JuicePlug does without Wi-Fi when first started?

Our goal is to raise awareness of new things owners will encounter. So when something screwy happens, it's good to document.

 

I'm putting money on the software in the charger with a Wi-Fi expectation of always connected.

It does make you wonder how an "off peak" setup would work, where the charger only has power in the evening. That reboot for powering on each day would be a variable to keep in mind... especially on the other end, if charging isn't complete. What would the log show or status be?