RAV4 PHEV Domestic 3Pin Plug Charging

[Mike2222]

5 hours ago, marlinleg said:

Hi i am learning everything I can for my new ordered rav4 phev  can I use high voltage charger safely away from home as the free installed charger is 7.4Kw I don’t know anything bout PHEV charging thank you 

I'm making the assumption from your phrasing that you know very little at present about the mechanics of charging your future vehicle? Apologies if I have misunderstood and the following is redundant, but in essence, as @philip42h says, the Rav PHEV can utilise only AC charging, which in terms of public charging is almost always in the UK rated at ~7kw (occasionally 3.6kw, and less commonly 11-22kw, tho the latter is quite common in Europe, I'm lead to believe). And as Philip rightly says, regardless of what the chargepoint is rated for, the Rav will only ever draw a maximum of 6.6kw, because the 'on-board charger'* can only operate at this power. 

 

You cannot damage your phev or make a mistake, per se, as the CCS combo ("rapid" DC) connector will not fit in your car's socket. It's not like misfuelling petrol vs diesel etc. You can only use chargepoints with the "type 2" (aka "mennekes") connector. 

 

Thus the fastest your phev will ever go from empty to full is ~2.5hrs. However this is not linear, and you can get a usefully good amount of range opportunistically whilst shopping at a variety of locations if you are in the bottom half of your Battery level. My favourites for free top ups are Aldi (not all stores have chargepoints, but those that do as no-faff, no apps, just plug in and walk away/into shop), Tesco (need the pod point app, but quite a lot of "superstores" have chargepoints, and all one needs to do in the app is log in & click once to 'confirm' the charge), and Asda (if they have them, they're legacy chargemaster/BP pulse, and the app is a complete pig's ear to use, but can't grumble too much as its still invariably free to charge). Though ALWAYS be careful to note the local parking restrictions, as they may not allow you to stay for >2hrs without slapping you with a £100+ fine!! 

 

*for sake of clarity, it's worth thinking of all charge points as fancy plug sockets. The actual "charging" is done by an inverter in the vehicle, at least it is in AC charging. This is because the batteries on vehicles always use DC electricity, so the incoming AC feed has to be converted via the inverter to a form that the Battery can accept. On BEVs with DC rapid/ultra-rapid charging, the inverter is bypassed and the DC current flows directly (sort-of) into the Battery. 

 

Hope that helps with getting your head round the whole charging malarkey. Quite straightforward in many ways (home charging), but can be quite the ballache if reliant on publicly available infrastructure! 

[marlinleg]

Mike2222 thank you. Which charging app do you have

( finding charging points) I have downloaded MyT but all I can see on the app is my Rave4  order is placed 

[Mike2222]

10 minutes ago, marlinleg said:

Mike2222 thank you. Which charging app do you have

( finding charging points) I have downloaded MyT but all I can see on the app is my Rave4  order is placed 

No worries. 

 

ZapMap is a good place to start to find local charging points. A mostly free app (has some paid-for features, but they're not essential). I also sometimes has used the octopus energy 'electric juice' app - I am with octopus for utilities, and the convenience of this is that any charging will be billed back to monthly direct debit, plus they give you a single rfid card that will operate a variety of different brands of chargepoint without having to sign up to an account for each of the various disparate providers. Not had to use it yet, but looks excellent for if ever using in Europe. 

[marlinleg]

Thank you 

[philip42h]

The Toyota Charging Network has EV charge stations across Europe.

(Zap Map will show even more charging stations.)

[marlinleg]

👍

[marlinleg]

 Hi to one and all I've cancelled the PHEV today 7/2/23.Order placed 27 July 2022 dealer rang saying build won't start at the earliest.November 2023 so I would be looking At March 2024. 😩😩

[NASY]

Incredible. Sorry that it takes so long to get a mainstream car, think I would have cancelled too and gone for second best if it was available in a reasonable timeframe.

[marlinleg]

Thanks John but to get things into perspective I waited 40yrs for my first new car 😂 mortgage, university fees