Alberta_Rav wrote:
. . . it is best to charge early morning so the RAV finishes charging just before you leave to work. In this way the battery is already warm from the charging process and this will save energy . . .
Well . . . maybe not. There seem to be different schools of thought on this.
The battery cools overnight. When charging begins, the battery heater is turned on, to bring the pack well above 50°F (because charging is much slower at temps below that), and running the battery heater is not saving energy -- the battery heater is as voracious as the cabin heater! Whereas, charging immediately when arriving at home, no battery heating is required to charge.
OTOH, I like getting into a nice, pre-warmed RAV4 and I like morning regen -- I live at the top of a hill, 1.5 miles -- so I pay the cost by charging in early AM like many people. I don't have TOU electricity rates here (yet), so the trade-off is more expensive than in other areas.
I just wanted to point out that charging early AM doesn't necessarily save energy.