Toyota RAV4 EV Not Entirely Compatible With All Public Charg

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sam

Member
Joined
Nov 15, 2012
Messages
20
Toyota has notified their dealer network that some 2012 RAV4 EV customers may complain of a “Check EV System” warning message after they try to charge their vehicle at a public Level 2 electric vehicle charging station. “Level 2” refers to a 240V AC electric vehicle charging station, or EVSE (Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment).

Toyota uses Leviton Manufacturing as its Level 2 EVSE supplier. Leviton offers 16A, 30A, and 40A charging stations, approved for use with the 2012 RAV4 EV. Toyota has also confirmed basic compatibility between the RAV4 EV and the following Level 2 charging stations:

Aerovironment: Level 2 EVSE-RS
Blink/Ecotality: Level 2 Charge Station
ChargePoint/Coulomb Technologies: CT2000 Series
Clipper Creek: CS Series
Eaton: EV Charging Station (residential)
Eaton: Pow-R-Station (commercial)
Schneider Electric: EVLink Indoor Charging Station (EV2430WS)
Toyota plans to continue basic testing on additional Level 2 charging stations, to identify other EVSE than are compatible with the RAV4 EV.
 
My dealer was so "sensitive" about this, that they would not allow me to try my SPX Power Express (EVSE L2 24A) home charger on a test drive of one of their RAV EV's before I committed to a purchase, and I was their very first "paying" customer.

The first thing I did after I took home "MY" Rav4 EV is order a Leviton EVB32-5ML, which is a 7.7kW "32A" EVSE L2 home charger. It works flawlessly with my RAV4 EV, as well as my Chevy VOLT. Problem solved!
 
My dealer has a rental, but will not provide the 120V charging adapter with the rental. If you want to rent for more than 80-100 miles, you've got to find public charging stations.

I posted a writeup of my rental experience over on the TeslaMotorsClub forum here:
http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/10518-Extended-test-drive-of-Toyota-RAV4-EV

I've thought through the logic around not providing the 120V charger, and it makes a little more sense to me now for a couple of reasons. First, it is a dry-weather only unit. It is not designed to be left out in the wet. For a rental, this could be an issue. Second, the cord is fairly long, but not super long. Most people don't have the required high amperage extension cords necessary to run these chargers, so it's not likely they'd work for a lot of folks.

As for public charging stations, I can confirm that the ChargePoint stations I've tried worked very well indeed. Haven't tried any others yet.
 
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