I'm looking to purchase a level 2 charger. Unfortunately, My wife and I put our house up for sale, so having a permanent 240 volt plug install just doesn't seem like a good idea. Our washer and dryer is right next to the garage, so I figured I would go with a 14-30 plug charger. Which is what my dryer plug is. Anyway, I have been researching and looking at all the options available on amazon. I found two models that I have narrowed down too. links below. One is about $50 bucks cheaper but doesn't have the best reviews. I contacted the company, in an attempt to get a military discount and I promised to do a youtube video on their product. They politely refused to give a discount. I like how you can switch to different plugs. I'm mainly interested in this due to visiting my mother who has a 240 volt 10-30 plug. Would be nice to charge my prime while visiting her. She lives 60 miles away. So, I usually visit her about once a week. Thank you for your suggestions and I appreciate your feedback. Thanks
Many here have discovered that their Prius (& some Chevy 120v portable) chargers actually work on 240v as well, especially since these vehicles for the most part will only pull 3600 Watts Max. Do a search here and you'll find the threads confirming. All you need to do is modify an adapter plug so that it will work. This way you'll save a boatload of money. No need to worry about a more powerful L2 evse until you get a car that pulls real power. .
Ah, hill beat me. @Rob43 sells a 240 to 120 volt adapter. Tell him you want NEMA 10-30P to NEMA 5-20R adapter of x feet. (long enough you don't need to get behind the dryer all that often) It should have warning stickers on it that this is NOT a 120 Volt outlet like it looks but is High Voltage. Then plug your existing 5.5 hour 120 volt cable into the adapter and you have a 2.5 hour 240 volt cable. This is still only 12 Amps, and so is not quite as fast as the 16 Amp Level 2 adapters you were going to spend hundreds on, but @Rob43 is likely to charge you $50. (I do not speak for him) He does good work.
Hi Tim, IMO the answer between your two choices is neither, they're both expensive and not exactly well built*. Your Toyota OE EVSE unit is a masterpiece internally and weighs two to three times as much as the Chinese EVSE's, Toyota builds it as a worldwide unit so it works equally as well at 240 volts. Your charge up time from 0 to 100% will be 2:28 minutes when you use a 240v adapter. If you want a perfect working 240v Rob43 adapter(s), just let me know. Using the Primes 120v Charger at 240 Volts, Cost $20 !!! | Page 9 | PriusChat Rob43 * The China built units have extremely tight fitting charge handles that are a PIA to plug in and out. The unit I opened up and examined had several "cold" solder joints on the circuit board, it looked hand built.
FWIW, I just started running mine down to 0% daily now and it takes 1:50 to get to full charge @240V/16A. If you plan on preconditioning your car, the extra amps help
