I have bought a new 2020 Toyota Prius Prime Hybrid Plug-In. It now has 1,780 miles with 199.5 MPG. (combined gasoline and electric) I have had it over 260 MPG. I get around 33 miles off the battery, then over 70 MPG with the gasoline. I start slow when the red light turns to green. I use the hybrid monitor to help drive miserly. My first new 2010 Prius got 53 MPG. My second 2016 Prius got 64.7 MPG over to 90,910 miles. With the use of the charging cable that came with this car, it takes around five hours to charge the empty battery. I am looking into getting a 240 volt, 40 amp charging station to reduce the charging time. Any advice about this idea? I'd like to hear from you! THANKS
Welcome! And well done. The cheapest way to charge at 240V (assuming you already have an outlet in place) would be to make an adapter for your EVSE cable. Lots of people are doing that and love it. It will cut your charge time in half. If you don't want to make your own, @Rob43 has quality adapters for sale. Next cheapest is to get an L2 EVSE cable from Ebay or Amazon for a couple hundred dollars. These will charge at 16 amps and get the car charged a little quicker. Or you can go whole hog and get something like a Clipper Creek wall mounted EVSE that will email you when the car is done charging and has other nice features but costs quite a bit more. If you don't have a 240V outlet already, I recommend hiring an electrician to make sure it's done safely if you don't have the training yourself. By the way, Primes are hard to find here in FL. Did you order yours or was someone actually stocking them?
Welcome to PC. As already mentioned, check out this thread Using the Primes 120v Charger at 240 Volts, Cost $20 !!! | PriusChat and contact @Rob43 for an adapter, unless you want to spend $$$ on fancy L2 EVSE.
I bought this and installed a nema 6-20 at my job. I only had to run a 12 guage wire because the length i needed was only 6 inches. Thee new cable is great. I have had it for 2 months now and probably plugged and unglugged it over 300 times because I drive a lot of short trips everyday for my work.
Not sure that starting slowly from a green light and "driving miserly" is such a good idea with these cars. Gets pretty expensive if you are rear ended. Personally, I like the extra torque the Prime has when starting out.
Congrats on your new Prime ! **************************** Your included Toyota OE EVSE unit (charger) is probably one of the finest included EVSE's of any manufacturer, it's a really high quality piece. So I'd tell you to keep using it because it's great and it's FREE. Once you get yourself a 240v adapter, your charging time from 0% to 100% will take about 2:28 minutes. You won't be modifying anything, including your OE EVSE unit, so it can always work at 120v or 240v depending on your needs. On a side note, the Prime can't ever take more than a 16 amp EVSE unit. If you want a great working 240v adapter I custom build & test them before shipping for less than $50 dollars, just let me know. Using the Primes 120v Charger at 240 Volts, Cost $20 !!! | Page 8 | PriusChat Rob43
I agree with you completely, there is a modification for everything, depending on traffic. Yes, it is almost impossible to find a Prime in Florida. I have been trying to buy one for the better part of a year. Some dealers are marking them up $5,000. I got a great deal on mine (off the lot) at Phillips Toyota in Leesburg, FL.
Cool. I got mine used from Tampa Hybrids. If I was going to get a new one, I'd probably have gotten a one-way plane ticket to New Jersey or Maryland or something and driven it back.
I am a new owner, too. I love tech and considered something like a JuiceBox Pro. I just can't justify the price. The Prius Prime let's you program charging times really easily right on the dashboard. Combine that with a 240 adapter and you have 90% of the functionality of the $550 JuiceBox Pro. I will be ordering a Rob43 adapter once I get my new 240 outlet installed.
Hey y’all! I have a 2020 Prius Prime XLE. A month after getting it a lil freeway rock made a huge horizontal crack in my windshield. Safelight ordered a new windshield and they’re telling me the 2020’s don’t require recalibration but I don’t completely believe that is correct —does anyone know if a windshield replacement will require recalibration for the 2020 prime? Thanks
I've never heard or read anywhere that 2020 forward facing camera is any different from previous model years. Yeah, I don't believe what Safelight is telling you. Did they order an OEM glass? I have read somewhere that aftermarket is now available but may not be acoustic windshield as OEM glass is. On the other hand, OEM glass is apparently very thin and prone to crack. I wonder if the aftermarket one is thicker and better in terms of durability? I had to have the windshield replaced on my 2017 PRIME and had a Toyota dealer re-calibrate the camera. The cost was ~$150.
D'Rae I had same problem. Insurance wanted me to go through safelite as they seem to have a contract with them. Safelite mobile came out and couldn't fix chip, said windshield needs to be replaced. Get quote from dealer. Call insurance and submit this to ask for coverage. Let them know you want oem parts and that it has to be oem for safety features to work and that you are concerned about your safety if not done properly. Toyota has to be the ones to calibrate lane departure. Honestly with the safety system tied to this I would go through the dealer for this.
Why do you need to reduce the charging time? I considered spending bucks on a level 2 set up but are doing just fine with the overnight level 1 charge. No different than charging your phone while you sleep.
Congratulations! I'm a new owner too as of November. This is my first Prius...and I'm just blown away at how efficient this car is. Enjoy and welcome!
Depends on his driving demands. There are usually 2-3 times a week when L1 is not fast enough for me.
Thanks for your reply... $150 just to recalibrate? How much was the windshield replacement ? Thanks for the tips. Did you end up going through the dealer and having it covered by your insurance? How much was your dealer quote?
Everything was paid by my insurance. The dealer subcontracted the windshield replacement to the local auto glass shop. They submitted the claim directly to my insurance, so I don't know the final bill, but the installer I talked to told me the OEM glass they had to special order was ~$600 IIRC. ~$150 recalibration fee was paid to Toyota dealer out of my pocket, but later I was reimbursed from my insurance company.