what type of charger?

The plug/jack standard the P.Prime uses is called J1772. That covers Level-1 (120V) and Level-2 (240V) charging.

There are also DC fast chargers (CHAdeMO: up to 500V at 125A, I believe), as well as Tesla's SuperChargers (I don't know the numbers, but something like 3 times CHAdeMO), but the P. Prime doesn't use them.

 

Need an address/store location to tell for sure. Tesla's and Chad's and DCFC all in your area.

 

Hi everybody...planning on purchasing soon but not quite sure about a few things....hope someone can explain it to me. On a previous reply it mentioned CHAdeMO, are we able to use that too or is that also for Tesla's? Also, in my garage, will the car charge on a regular 110V or is it better with a Chargepoint charger? Is this the best charger to use or are there others? If we install a 220V, other than it charging faster, is it cheaper doing that? Hope I'm not being too much of a pest...thanks.

 

The Prime only has a J1772 socket to plug in and only takes up to 16A:

• L1 (~120VAC) - the unit that comes with the car is rated at 8A but there higher amp versions. The key is having a 20A rated, 120 VAC circuit with no other loads.
• L2 (~210-240VAC) - these can be converted clothes dryer or special installed circuits. At my house, we installed a 50A circuit so I can charge up to 40A. But our BMW i3-REx only takes up to 31-32A. However, the Prime will only accept up to 16A.

Bob Wilson

 

On a previous reply it mentioned CHAdeMO, are we able to use that too or is that also for Tesla's?

Nissan Leaf and Tesla so far as I know Complete list --> CHAdeMO - Wikipedia

Also, in my garage, will the car charge on a regular 110V or is it better with a Chargepoint charger? Is this the best charger to use or are there others?

Any J1772 charger will be fine. Various models have various features but all will charge your Prius. If you buy a plug in 220 volt ESVE, be sure the plug is the 220 v plug you have, there are several styles.

If we install a 220V, other than it charging faster, is it cheaper doing that?

No, just faster.

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There are many different charge plugs. I'm not going to go into details about each one. You can look it up. Suffice it to say, if it fits, you're good to go. The only plug that fits your car is J1772. The standards for the plug ensures it will work on all vehicles with the socket. It is by far the most ubiquitous charge plug type out there. It's interesting you found a place with two different plug types and both don't work for your car. The only place I can think of that definitely won't work is Tesla Superchargers.

The car will charge fine on 110. That's what I use. It is more efficient to charge 220 as there is less overhead in the decreased time to run the fan, electronics, etc. I've seen some varying numbers out there but 110v is ~15% inefficient and 220 is ~10%. (Only 85% of the energy you pay for actually goes into the car) These are estimates and the guy who replies after me will say my numbers are ridiculous. We can agree, though, that charging 220 costs less than 110. However, does it make up the cost for installation of a Level 2 EVSE? The answer for me is no.

 

I've purchased and will install next week a Clipper Creek LCS-30P, 24A level-2 (240V) charger (more accurately an EVSE; the actual charger itself is inside the P.Prime). That can be connected to a typical 30A dryer circuit (as long as the dryer is not also connected!) for ~2hr charging.

I decided to go with that instead of 120V largely because I'm not confident that my house has any 120V circuits in the vicinity of the garage with 15A free on them. My dryer circuit on the other hand is completely unused now (gas dryer). Plus it's faster-charging anyway...

I was originally thinking about the ChargePoint 30A charger, but you're technically not allowed to install that on 30A circuit.

The P.Prime doesn't do CHAdeMO, and strictly speaking Tesla doesn't either although I believe they have an adaptor for it.

 

Got a CliperCreek HCS-40P with 14-50P Plug type. Ran a 50A circuit to the panel above for the charger. The HCS-40P can handle up to 32A so it's future proof and the price difference between the LCS-30P vs HCS-40P is $74.

 

I use this one. Works great. But it is very tight fitting. Good price. Just need to use two hands to pull it out after charging. 240volts. Charges in less then 2 hours.

 

Our version of Prime doesn't, here in the United States. Later on sometime, it may.

The version that just rolled out today in Japan does offer that as an option.

 

I might have to get one. Since I now have solar, I can charge multiple times a day. Too bad the tax credit expired.

 

I got the same one, but thru Ali-baba from China directly, these are all made there anyway, I just cut out the middleman. Love how fast it charges my prime. $165. total delivered.

 

240 volt Level 2 costs less to charge our cars that 120 volt Level 1? How many fractions of a penny are you talking about?

I see no payback for a 240 volt EVSE. So it doesn't get my Prime fully charged before my next drive and I burn a cup or two of gasoline. I won't live long enough to pay off the cost of the Level 2 unit plus the costs to wire its supply.

 

I use Siemens VersiCharge which can output from min 6A/1.44 kW up to max 30A/7.2kW by turning a screw under the face cover. It was relatively inexpensive a few years ago and has been reliable with our 2013 LEAF (6.6kW charger on board) and our Prime (3.3kW charger on board) as well as 2014 Prius Plug-in (2.2kW charger on board).

Using a 240V EVSE makes sense to me if you plan on charging at home more than once a day, which we do occasionally, especially on weekends. We pay 8.54 cents per kWh during off-peak period (9 PM to 12 noon, Mon-Fri, and full day on all holidays and weekends).



This may be off-topic for this thread. To be honest, it is not about money that motivates me to charge. It just makes ME feel better to charge when I can. I understand that it may not be for everyone.

Allow me to explain. A few years ago I was feeling increasingly powerless and depressed in the world where majority of good people did not appear to care much about global warming. Then, I heard Mr. Wayne Gerdes talk about hypermilng (Cleanmpg.com) being his response to the 9-11. I read about hypermiling, watched as many YouTube video clips as I could find on the subject, bought LEAF and Prius Plug-in, and start experimenting with hypermiling. I know hypermiling is annoying to many people because I too was one to feel it driving behind slower cars. I also admit that it may be an illusion to think that I am making any contribution to less CO2 emission in a global scale by maximizing EV usage. But “I” feel BETTER charging my cars and driving slower than I used to because I am doing what I can.

 

Actually, what I said here is ... mostly right, but could be misinterpreted, in hindsight:

CHAdeMO is the less popular of two DC quick-charging standards deployed in North America. The other is the Combined Charging System (CCS), which essentially just adds two terminals below the J1772 connector. As I recall, in Europe, the AC charging plug, more or less equivalent with J1772 in N.A., is called a type-2 connector (N.A. J1772 is type-1), and CCS similarly adds the two DC terminals below that. Most EVs support CCS over CHAdeMO, the main holdout being the LEAF.

While I’m pretty sure it is indeed true that CHAdeMO can go up to 125A (62KW), I gather it’s not common to see much higher than 50KW or so. CCS can go as high as 350KW, and VW’s Electrify America stations will go that high. 350KW will probably get you around 200 miles of range in around 10 minutes! As of now though, 50-100KW is much more typical for CCS, and very few if any EVs currently on the market can charge at a 350KW rate.

Typical Tesla Superchargers charge at 90-120KW, most closer to the 120 end (assuming you’re not sharing a charger). However, Tesla is starting to deploy their V3 Superchargers at 250KW — good for about 200 miles in around 15 minutes. The Model 3 can charge at that rate, although ironically, the upscale Model S and X can “only” do 200KW.

These high-powered DC quick chargers are another big nail in the coffin of hydrogen fuel cell EV (passenger vehicles at least). HFCEVs are already much less efficient than BEVs (see

), as well as considerably more expensive, and their main remaining advantage — fast refueling times — is starting to become unimportant. For EV owners who can charge at home, fast refueling times are only of concern for road trips, and 4-5ish minutes for HFC vs. 10-15 minutes for fast-DC ... not all that huge a concern in most cases.

 

You bet! I added to this thread some ... well, better, and more up-to-date ... information about charging connection types. Look down a little later in this thread.