Plugging in at a charging station.

Also, the level 2 chargers are typically capable of about 6kWh (about 27A at 220V), but the Prius Prime will only pull about 3kWh.

The Prime has an 8kW battery, but always reserves about 2kW for driving in 'hybrid' mode when the battery is 'empty'. So an 'empty' battery means about 6kW of charging needed. That means it will take 2 1/2 hours to charge up an empty Prius Prime battery. (The extra 1/2 hour is because charging slows down when a battery gets close to full).

If you use your charger plugged into a 120V plug, it will take about twice as long to charge.

 

I charge at-home using my level-1 120vac outlet.

One office that I routinely go to has two level-2 chargers that are compatible with my 2017 Prius hybrid. Those chargers are available to the public for free.

There is a restaurant near me [directly across the street from the Prius dealership] that has a row of Tesla chargers in the back of their parking lot. I have looked and none of those connections are compatible with the Prius.

 

Unless it's free, I would skip using the public charge station on PP. It may cost you a lot more than buying gasoline. A quick comparison is if your charge session costs you more than 1/2 gal of gasoline cost in your area, you are paying too much.

For example, if the gas is $3/gal. Paying more than $1.50 for a full charge for the battery will cost more to drive on EV mode.

 

Do you have an assigned parking space ?
Is it right up next to a building ?

Some apartment dwellers have been successful in getting an outside outlet installed (120V) but most have not.
Won't hurt to ask.

 

I also agree with you.

 

That's a nice rule of thumb. Thanks.

 

Download the Plugshare App (or similar) to locate any charging stations near you... or anywhere... including the free (as in no-cost) ones.

 

Hi , I usually charge at home on level 1 charging with the EVSE provided by Toyota ( the brick) Current is set at 8 amps in the setting menu.
IF in some occasions I charge the car on a public level 2 charging station will the charge be limited to 8amps as chosen in the charge menu or will it go max since the car is plugged on a 240v level 2 station or if not does it mean that I will have to change the current setting to Max before docking on a public station

 

I believe the 8A max charging current setting only applies to the use of L1 EVSE. That being said, I am not sure if that applies to any L1 EVSE or just for the OEM EVSE that came with the car. Also, I am not sure, if someone set the max to 8A and use the adaptor to plug the OEM EVSE to the 240V outlet. Without an 8A limit setting, the OEM EVSE still pulls 12A @240V.

EDIT: I was wrong on this. See Jerry's testing result below. The 8A limit applies to both L1 (120V) and L2 (240v).

 

Sorry - which do you think is going to happen at a Level 2 when the in car charger setting is set at 8 Amps?
Charge at the Max setting or the 8 Amp setting?

 

I believe the 8A max setting is for L1 EVSE only. For an L2 EVSE, it will default to 16A. The 8A car setting has no effect.

EDIT: BUT I have not tested this myself. It can be easily testable by just changing the car setting to 8A and plugging into L2 EVSE at 240V. If it takes substantially longer than the usual 2 hours, then it is limiting the current.

EDIT2: I was wrong on this. See Jerry's testing result below. The 8A limit applies to both L1 (120V) and L2 (240v).

 

Extra points if you figure out which charges faster !
Level 1 charging at the Max setting or Level 2 charging at the 8Amp setting.

 

Ok ,did someone try it out

 

Hypothetically, 12A at 120v = 1440W vs. 8A at 240v = 1920W. So, L2 at 8A is still slightly faster... but my contention is that L2 is going to be at 16A.

 

If you can't try it, I am sure @jerrymildred who has L2 EVSE at home will give us an answer. I would test it myself, but I don't have 240v outlet setup yet. I would have to do it at my work next time I plug my PP on L2.

 

Thank you, being a neebie on this forum how can i contact Jerry Mildred

 

I mentioned him in my comment. He will respond to my comment very soon. Just wait. I am sure he will provide an answer for us.