Prius OEM Charger

Maybe doing a little search before posting a new thread might have shown you that this has been talked about in many threads. And in fact, many PC Prime owners are already using a pigtail to connect the OEM L1 EVSE to the 240v wall plug. You don't have to cut your OEM L1 EVSE cord.

Maybe start with this thread: Standard Prius Prime Charger (G9060-47130) supporting 240V | PriusChat
And this thread: Using the Primes 120v Charger at 240 Volts, Cost $20 !!! | PriusChat

Just to clarify, it is my understanding that the "charger" is actually inside of the car, and EVSE is just a fancy cord connecting the electric supply from the wall to the car. And for Prius Prime, L1 EVSE supplies 12A @120v whereas L2 EVSE supplies 16A 240v. So, when you use OEM L1 EVSE with 12A @240v, it is still a bit slower than using a real L2 EVSE.

 

The cable is an Electric Vehicle Supple Equipment(EVSE), and so are the AC Level 2 chargers. The actually charger is under the rear seat.
The EVSE's job is as a safety device, monitoring the incoming electricity, telling the car what can be supplied, and cutting power when faults are detected. I guess you can think of it as a sophisticated circuit breaker to the car.

What Is EVSE And Why Does Your Electric Car Charger Need It?

 

@Salamander_King and @Trollbait are correct. Page 90 of my owner's manual shows it pretty clearly. Yet, this notion that the EVSE is a charger persists. In fact, I googled "prius prime charger picture" and didn't get a single picture of the charger except a couple from EBay way way way down the list.

 

The charger is inside the car. The charger communicates with the EVSE (including the mis-labeled Morec product). The five conductors are two for charging power, a ground, and two for communications between the car's charger and the EVSE smart power supply. The amperage supplied to the car is determined by the car's built-in charger communicated to the charge cable's smart power supply (EVSE). The extra pin on the SAE 1772 connector is a proximity pin that tells the car's connector when the 1772 "nozzle" is in or out.

Power voltages in the U.S. and Canada are 120 volts and 240 volts. Japan has 100 volts and 200 volts. Most of Europe is 230 volts. Many modern power supplies are made to automatically handle 100 to 240 volt input according to their labels.

Watts in an alternating current system are calculated by volts x amps x power factor. Ignoring the power factor (how much the current leads or lags the voltage) is OK for rough calculations. Watts is the unit of power. Voltage is the unit of electrical force. Amperage is the unit of the rate of flow of the electrons.

 

Solid info, @PT Guy!

Also, @bevhoward, I forgot to mention that you do not want to cut off the wall plug from the EVSE. There's a temperature sensor in there.

 

Thank you for refreshing my far far memory of physics class. Man, I hated those stuff. I was good at math and science, but physics was the one subject I could never get handle on.

 

I also appreciated PT Guy's explanation. However, I enjoyed physics and electronics. In the Navy I taught electronics, and was an electronics Warrant Officer and a Master Chief Electronics Technician. Still learning, though.

 

i think that morec looks like a decent evse at a good price

 

Bev if I may -- I wish I'd been the first to post to this thread of yours. I greatly appreciate the work you've done so far and have shared here.
I have recently lost touch with an old friend I would contact in a heartbeat to help me get a better understanding of the pictures you've generously posted above. I'm quite certain he already knows what each of those 5 connections are for and how each is used.
My only suggestion and I hope it is worthy of your previous work on this subject is to take a look (if you haven't seen any of their products yet) at the OpenEVSE site which I believe will provide some clues to further what work you have already started. OpenEVSE Kits - Electric Vehicle Charging Solutions
I'll be sure to let you and @Rob43 know, if/when Rob43 starts posting here again, if I can cobble together something worthwhile to further the knowledge on this subject.

 

That's what the extra two pins the OP showed are for.

It sould be simple enough to find a compatible thermistor and add that to a DIY replacement plug.