Lets say I'm in a pinch and really need to recharge my Prime but all I've got are some cheap long extension cords. Does the CAR have features to protect itself if power its seeing is weak or otherwise out of specs (on the low end, not over-power)? Will it maybe just not charge and flash me a message if it sees SOME power but amps, volts or watts is too low? Can you trickle charge a Prime off low power source like Solar if the volts are near 110AC but maybe the amps and watts are very low?
it won't even recognize the plug. but your more likely to have a problem with the cords starting a fire, they would have to be really long notto get enough amperage to the car, and if too thin, they'll provide the power to the car, until they start melting everything if you're in a pinch, find a gas station, that's why you buy a phev.
Yes. According to the Repair Manual (more info), the car’s plug-in charge control system can detect several kinds of AC power supply problems, including undervoltage, overvoltage, underfrequency, and abnormal waveforms. When these occur, the car stops charging and stores a Vehicle Control History event, which can be viewed using a Toyota Techstream diagnostic system. This zone of protection extends only to the car itself, however. If you use an extension cord that’s too small, for example, and the current drawn by the car causes the cord to heat up, melt, or burn, the car can’t detect this, unless the voltage at the car is below the pre-programmed threshold. (The Repair Manual doesn’t give a number, but it might be well under 100 V, since many of the components are shared with models built for sale in Japan.) That’s one reason the Owner’s Manual (PDF) warns against using extension cords at all. Charging happens only if the AC power source—whether it’s a solar array, your backyard LM1500 set, or a person on a stationary bicycle—can maintain acceptable voltage and frequency under the load from the car. For a 120 V source, this could be up to 12 A or 8 A, depending on the Charge Current setting, on the multi-information display under ⚙️ > Vehicle Settings > Charge Settings.
