Can a Prius be wired so one can complete a charge from the house electrical outlet?

syrious

Assuming the battery is not completely charged when I get home.

Douglas G

yes but why would you do that unless your out of gas i guess it uses 3 phase power depending if you have 3 phase available where you live

Jamie Z

Yes, in the winter I plug mine in so it will run in the morning! In northern wisconsin it gets COLD.

MotoMan

You need a battery charger designed especially for charging Prius batteries. It does use house current (alternating current, AC) the batteries are direct current (DC) so you can't just match one with the other without a charger/transformer. I've been told that some countries have Priuses with a plug in for charging. The post from Wisconsin is talking about a block heater to keep the engine warm for starting in cold weather.

professorprius

Hi,































This is actually a detailed queston and will take some info to answer, stay with me.































short answer:















no, not without very expensive, major, and probably warranty-voiding modifications































full answer:















I'm guessing you mean peak charging the nickel metal hydride (NiMH) hybrid battery to extend the range it can run on electricity only and not have the internal combustion engine (ICE) start.































This is different from charging the 12 volt lead acid battery (the same type of battery found in almost all vehicles) to prevent cold weather drain.































Any charger you buy from any store off the shelf is going to be some type of trickle charger and will do nothing to boost the NiMH. You will not be able to hook on to the bright orange NiMH connections very easily to begin with, and doing so can cause a very dangerous jolt if you try to mess with that system. Don't attempt it, no matter what anyone tells you.































The Prius, like all full hybrids, uses two completely seperate electrical systems- the hybrid one that moves the vehicle and the 12 volt one that only gives the charge to the computer system to start it, power the headlights and save the settings in the computers, radio, and navigation systems, and power accessories like the Smart Key and power sockets.































The Prius has no starter or alternator. The main electrical motor generator is started first and then this powerful electromagnet starts the ICE, the ICE is not started first.































You are better off modifying your driving, which is what you need to do anyway to maximize the effects of a hybrid (and actually any vehicle).































You need to press the accelerator like there is an egg under it and you're trying to roll the egg out, not make omelets.































You also need to double the stopping distance you normally stop at. If you usually start pressing the brake pedal at 100 feet (using easy numbers), take your foot off the accelerator at 200 feet and coast to 100 feet, then press the brake gently to your stop. Your mileage will jump dramatically.































I am able to maintain 51.7 mpg as a year long average. I live in the upper MidWest, where we still had frost on the ground this morning (the ICE runs more in cold weather to provide heat for the cabin).































The other thing that will affect your available charge is how well you take care of your hybrid and avoiding ethanol if possible. I have posted extensively on these details in other Answers posts, do a search and you'll see that info.































OK, now that the basics are covered, you will not be able to plug your Prius in to peak charge (charge to the maximum level) the NiMH stack to boost electric range without adding additional battery storage capacity and/or hacking additional electronics into the main hybrid power flow system, called the Hybrid Synergy Drive.































To get this out of the way, Toyota has publicly stated that any major modification like this wouldn't automatically void your warranty, but if a Toyota component fails because of an aftermarket modification, the warranty would be void.































No manufacturer will warranty their vehicle because the owner changed the basic function of that vehicle, hybrid or not.































You ae looking at a modification, if done properly, of at least $10-24,000.00 when the cost of additional NiMH or Li-ion batteries for the extra storage and all the components and electronics needed to tap into the system and move that additional electrical power back and forth.































$10-24,000.00 additional on top of the minimum $21,000.00 sticker of the Prius, the Escape Hybrid runs $36,000 more on top of it's sticker price for a real, reliable modification.































There you go, if that doesn't cover it, let me know any specifics.

mrvadeboncoeur

There are no commercially-available plug-in hybrids on the market so far. (So you cannot plug them in, other than the same gas station pump that most other regular cars use.) Some hobbiests and aftermarket companies have been altering a few hybrids (Prius, Ford Escape Hybrid/Mercury Mariner Hybrid) to make them plug-in capable. Typically this requires adding additional hybrid batteries, besides the ability to charge off the mains.















For more information, check out http://www.calcars.org/vehicles.html































For cost reasons, unless you are a fleet owner or other high-mileage driver it probably will not be worth the cost of the PHEV conversion for you. (Conversion pricing is high due to startup costs and low volumes, besides the pricing of the needed additional battery packs.)































To note, converting to a PHEV (plug-in hybrid electric vehicle) does not reduce the vehicle's range. It gives the owner the option to recharge the (newly added larger) hybrid battery pack at night (cheap electricity and off-peak electric load which would otherwise be lost). The vehicle would run for a certain distance (longer than stock) on the stored electric power alone, and when the battery pack is depleted to a certain point the vehicle reverts back to its original hybrid self and runs on a combination of the gasoline engine (which will also recharge the battery) and the electric motor. A PHEV would add a greater all-electric range to the existing hybrid, besides the ability (but not the requirement!) to plug it into an electric source.































Toyota is working on creating a PHEV Prius, and has some test vehicles on the road. Supposedly for the 2010 US model year, and only for fleet customers at first (so not general retail).















http://pressroom.toyota.com/Releases...T2008011405523















http://pressroom.toyota.com/Releases...T2007072552930















http://www.toyota.co.jp/en/news/07/0725.html















video: http://www.toyota.co.jp/en/tech/envi...nce/index.html































quoting from the pressroom.toyota.com site above:















"The prototype PHEV system is designed to operate in a similar manner















to the current Prius, switching from pure-electric mode, to gas-engine















mode to a combined gas-electric mode. The big advantage is that the















PHEV's prototype battery pack is capable of storing significantly















higher levels of electricity, supplied by "plugging into the grid" for















periodic recharging sessions. With significantly more electric power















in reserve, the vehicle will be capable of operating in pure-electric















mode for longer periods of time and at much higher speeds than the















current Prius. This will result in substantial gains in fuel economy















and a major reduction in total tailpipe emissions of smog-forming















gases, over current conventional hybrid systems."































Anyhow, that's for the HV NiMH hybrid battery, which I assume that you were asking about charging... But why would you be concerned about it not being completely charged when you got home? It is supposed to be like that stock.































The displayed charge on the HYBRID battery (as seen on the Energy Monitor) rarely ever reaches "full" or "empty" but prefers to stay at a happy medium. The display only shows you the useable area of charge on the hybrid battery, displayed "empty" is about 40% and displayed "full" is about 80%. Actual charge levels of a NHW20 Prius (current hatchback model) can be seen at: http://www.privatenrg.com/#Full_SOC The two bottom purple/pink bars are about 40-47.5% battery charge. The most common middle four blue bars are about 45-66.5% battery charge. The two top green bars are about 64-81% battery charge. (If you have an older NHW11 Classic Prius, the displayed charge levels on the Energy Monitor normally sit at 3/4 and occasionally at 1/2, and rarely go to 1/4 or full.)































Quoting from a June 22, 2004 Toyota press release:















http://pressroom.toyota.com/photo_li...ml?id=20040623















http://pressroom.toyota.com/Releases...T2004062345528































The Prius battery (and the battery-power management system) has been designed to maximize battery life. In part this is done by keeping the battery at an optimum charge level - never fully draining it and never fully recharging it. As a result, the Prius battery leads a pretty easy life. We have lab data showing the equivalent of 180,000 miles with no deterioration and expect it to last the life of the vehicle. ....































To quote from Toyota:















http://www.toyota.com/html/hybridsyn...l/battery.html















"Q: Do they [the hybrid batteries] ever run out of power?















GS: No. A computer makes sure the batteries never discharge completely. They never fill completely, either. "































So yes, it is normal to not see the battery display on the Energy Screen reach green/full very often. (Even when it does read "full" - like after coasting down a long hill/mountain - the battery still isn't charged to full, to prolong the battery life.) It is also not common to see a low/pink battery icon either - usually a long uphill climb or heavy AC use (since the AC is electrically-powered off of the hybrid battery, and is not a conventional belt-driven off the engine AC).































There is no reason to be concerned at all to see the battery level at either extreme, either. The car takes care of itself, and you don't have to do anything special. (Turn off the display, or just stay on the more useful Consumption Monitor.) If the hybrid battery is too low on charge, the Prius will just turn on the gasoline engine to recharge it if necessary. If the hybrid battery is too high on charge, it'll bleed off as much energy as needed by running on electric only or occasionally by spinning the gasoline engine with the electric motor (similar to B mode).















































However, there are some other products that one can use to plug in a Prius to a house electrical outlet:















- engine block heater - this is a product that plugs into a house electrical outlet, and connects to the engine block to warm up/preheat the engine oil and engine. It is a easily orderable item for the Prius in Canada, and some dealers in northern/cold US states may also stock it. It is used to keep the engine oil from getting too solid in extremely cold climates, but more commonly to help pre-heat the engine so startup warmup time is shorter.















- (I've heard of some products available in Europe that plug in to the house electrical outlet, and sit in the passenger cabin and pre-heat the cabin for you, but I've not seen them.)















- 12v battery tender or trickle charger. Just like any other vehicle, if left undriven for a long enough period of time the 12v accessory battery can go flat thanks to parasitic loads from the car (like the alarm system, clock/radio memory, any lights left on, etc.) and then not be able to start your car when you return. Myself, I only drive my Prius a couple of days, every other month or so (normally I walk or take public transportation everywhere), and I got tired of always having to jumpstart my Prius, so I now plug it in using a Battery Minder http://www.vdcelectronics.com/index.htm to keep the 12v battery's charge up (though I considered a Battery Tender http://www.batterytender.com/ and some solar panel 12v charger options as well).































And then there are some people that have installed inverters and used their Prius as a home generator to power their house when they have lost electricity to their house.















http://www.priups.com/















http://hiwaay.net/~bzwilson/prius/priups.html

David F

yes you can theres a kit they sell go ask your local dealer