Free home charging unit for new Prius Plug-in

[FROSTYBALLS]

See: http://blog.toyota.co.uk/free-home-charging-unit-with-new-prius-plug-in

[johalareewi]

The new plugin which can make use of 7kW chargers  to charge more quickly, is being supplied with a free 3.6kW charger with an option to upgrade to a 7kW unit (but doesn't say how much).  Looks like the new plugin has 2 charging sockets.  A type 2 and I guess the other one is a type 1 so you can use your 3.6kW unit. ;).

 

 

[johalareewi]

If you search online you can get a 7kW home unit installed with a new 17 plate car for £99.

For example http://www.chargedev.co.uk/domestic-chargepoints

Charge Your Car also offer a free RFID card (for 1 year) with Rolec installations (the scheme was still active last time I checked).

https://www.zap-map.com/free-charge-your-car-membership-with-rolec-home-charge-installation/

 

[MEP's Yaris GS]

9 hours ago, johalareewi said:

The new plugin which can make use of 7kW chargers  to charge more quickly, is being supplied with a free 3.6kW charger with an option to upgrade to a 7kW unit (but doesn't say how much).  Looks like the new plugin has 2 charging sockets.  A type 2 and I guess the other one is a type 1 so you can use your 3.6kW unit. ;).

 

 

I thought I read that the new PiP only charges at a max of 3.6kw? If so, not really worth paying the extra. The 3.3kw will still be a marked improvement in charge time over the 10amp 2.5kw 3pin supplied.

[MEP's Yaris GS]

Faster Battery charging

The increase in maximum power from 2.0 to 3.3kW means the Battery can be fully charged up to 65 per cent more quickly – in two hours when using the Type II Mode III Mennekes connector, or three hours 10 minutes using a standard household plug socket.

http://blog.toyota.co.uk/introducing-new-prius-plug-in

Seems I was correct, although my numbers slightly out.

[aCactus]

I suspect that somewhere in the small print that the unit is only "free" if you qualify for a government grant. I did consider various plug in & full electric cars for my next vehicle and found that I could not get a free/reduced price new charger if the one I have now was not compatible with another car as I had already received a grant for the unit I have for the Prius.

[johalareewi]

When I read the original new plugin blurb it said charging times were halved because it could make use of the faster 7kW (32A) chargers instead of the 3.6kW (16A) chargers that the current plugin uses.  

The latest blog says: HV capacity has been doubled from 4.4 to 8.8kW/h (SIC). It can be charged in two hours when using the Type II Mode III Mennekes connector, or three hours 10 minutes using a standard household plug socket.

The current plugin takes a maximum 10Amps when charging and can take a maximum of 3,3kW which takes it about 90 minutes at 230V.

Assuming the new plugin can take a maximum 7.7kW, to do this in 2 hours at 230V requires 16 Amps which it can do with a 3.6kW charger.  So why spend all that extra on providing a type 2 connection for fast charging?

I think marketing have muddied things a bit.

Update: Just had a rummage on the Toyota Japan website where they have some 'technical' manuals for home charging installation.  For fast charging over there, the new prius can pull 20 Amps.  Will be interesting to see if this has been changed for the EU/UK market.

Update2; Also on the Japan site they have more photos of the charging socket(s).  The new plugin can accommodate up to 2 different sockets.  Again, it will be interesting to see what arrives in the UK.

[PeteB]

21 minutes ago, johalareewi said:

... I think marketing have muddied things a bit.

 

GOSH!  How unusual!

[QuantumFireball]

1 hour ago, johalareewi said:

The current plugin takes a maximum 10Amps when charging and can take a maximum of 3,3kW which takes it about 90 minutes at 230V.

The 1st gen PIP is limited to 10A, so 10A @ 230 V means a maximum of about 2.1 kW. Or did you mean the max charging capacity is 3.3 kWh? The new model only has a 3.3 kW charger AFAIK. That blog post about the free charger offer only mentions upgrading to a 32A installation for "future proofing", so I suspect the Prius can't avail of this - having a 32A charger would make a lot more sense if you switched to a BEV, especially as capacities are increasing over 30 kWh.

I assume if you use a granny cable on the new Prius it would still be limited to 10A, as no one seems to trust sustained loads of 13A on domestic sockets.

Using a Type 2 cable is not about fast charging (I wouldn't call 16A "fast" :) ) - it's just the European standard for AC charging. Pretty much all other cars have them now (except older models like the Leaf). Not sure about the UK, but all public AC charging points (standard and fast) are Type 2 here. CCS and ChaDeMo are used for fast DC charging.

[johalareewi]

i was using zap-map terminology.  Slow-Fast-Rapid.

[QuantumFireball]

OK, I'm not familiar with UK terminology. "Fast" here means anything >23kW, and we don't use the term "rapid".

[johalareewi]

Fast here is between 3kW and 22kW.

https://www.zap-map.com/charge-points/basics/