Introduction and Battery Question

[jscgvnc]

Hey guys/gals,

I'm Josh, I just bought a RAV4 EV last week. I just installed the Leviton 40 Charger this afternoon(I work for an electrical contractor). I mostly bought it for my wife, she has the longer(30 miles each way) commute. I live up in Gold Country.

I wanted to A) Say hello, and B) say that I charged the car twice with the 120 supplied charger and now it's charging on the 240v/40 Leviton. Charging with the 120v charger for those two days couldn't have hurt the car/battery, could it?

Oh, I'd also like to say that this lack of a spare tire sucks. Anyone come up with a good solution?

Thanks,

Josh

 

[eschatfische]

There's no issue with charging the RAV with the included charging cable - it's just slow, that's all. Welcome!

 

[jscgvnc]

Thanks for the reply.

I'm assuming most of the owners are in the SF Bay Area or in SoCal. Up here it's kind of a shock to see an all-electric vehicle, and everywhere I go people are asking me about it. It's kind of fun!

Josh

 

[jscgvnc]

So it just finished an "extended charge" on the 240V/40A Leviton charger, and the range reads 102.

Is that normal?

Josh

 

[jspearman]

Normal depends on your driving style. It factors in how you drove it before to give you range numbers. I get about 110-119 miles on an 80% charge, less in winter and summer. I run AC on EcoHi in summer, and it keeps up fine even in Phoenix, but dings me about 7-8 mi.

No worries about plugging into wall, it just uses a lot more electricity to charge because it's less efficient and it's running the battery's cooling system, too. I charge it this way in the summer because my garage often exceeds 110. Faster charging is generally more damaging to a battery, but Tesla charges these packs way faster than the Leviton, so no worries there.

Welcome, and enjoy.

 

[mikegerard]

Thanks for the reply.

I'm assuming most of the owners are in the SF Bay Area or in SoCal. Up here it's kind of a shock to see an all-electric vehicle, and everywhere I go people are asking me about it. It's kind of fun!

Josh

I'm in Upstate New York... I'm at the Toyota dealer now getting my state inspection done. The service guys get pretty excited because they've never seen one before. When I'm on the street I usually just blend in. Maybe once a week someone asks what it is but they are usually driving a volt or leaf...
Mike

 

[ufojoe]

So it just finished an "extended charge" on the 240V/40A Leviton charger, and the range reads 102.

Is that normal?

Josh

For a lead-foot like myself, I get 100-105 on an extended charge...

 

[swogee]

jscgvnc,

I believe have a solution for the spare tire issue on the RAV4 EV, but I need to test the jack fitment. I believe the current 2013-2014 ICE RAV 4 uses the proper sized compact spare for the 2012-2014 RAV4 EV which is 165/80R17 with correct bolt pattern. The tools for lug nut removal should work as well. The issue with the RAV4 EV is that the standard Toyota scissor jack will strike the under body battery pack if it is used to jack the vehicle up. I believe a German style Volkswagen Touareg jack will clear the battery pack and allow for the RAV4 EV to be lifted enough to change out the tire. The jack is a single foot unit with a lever arm that protrudes outwards as the jack rises. The Touareg is a 5000 lb SUV. The spare and jack should fit in the cargo area bottom compartment.

LEGAL DISCLAIMER: Please note that this is only an idea which has not been tested so use it at your own risk.

-Steve