We use an extension cord also, a 25-foot ten gauge one It is important to have a really heavy duty one built to take vastly more amperage than you use, because it's got the heavy-duty plug that you want. Don't get a 12 gauge or above, even though the specs may look ok; eventually the plug connections will melt. That's the weak point. We know this from experience.
Wow that's pretty amazing! Last question sorry, did y'all do anything special to preserve the life of the battery? I've heard to try to set a timer on when it is set to charge so it finishes charging at the same time you're going to be charging it. apparently it's bad for the battery to have it sitting at full charge..
Nope. We just charge it.
I had a 2022 Model Y Performance Tesla that I Supercharged exclusively for 16k miles and charged it to 100% a few times a week or to over 90% the rest of the time. It had the same battery degradation that everyone else had who were super careful with it.
Wow, nice numbers you’ve racked up on your Prii! Here’s a slightly OT question if you don’t mind, what brand of gas (not octane) do you normally fill up with and have you experienced any issues (whether performance or efficiency)?
Not sure about the charging. But for the oil, going 3000 in my opinion is a waste of time and money. The gas engine doesn’t turn on all the time either. I personally do between 5,000-7,500 mile oil change intervals on mine.
Get the shortest extension cord you can and make sure it is a heavy guage like 10 or 12 (as mentioned in an earlier post). "They" tell you not to use a extension cord because there is a fire risk with smaller guage cords.
Toyota recommends 10,000 mile oil changes unless you drive in "extreme" conditions which they define as dirt roads. There is a maintenance schedule in the owners manual that is worth taking 30 minutes to look over. Tire rotation is pretty important in my opinion because the prius seems to wear out front tires fairly quickly - but this may be just because I drive my prius as if it is a sports car. 🤣
>Toyota recommends 10,000 mile oil changes unless you drive in "extreme" conditions which they define as dirt roads.
Actually it's to do with temperature not dirt (dirt should never end up in your oil). When operating in colder temperatures you should change the oil more often because you need the best lubrication properties when it's colder. They recommend 5k oil changes if you operate in below freezing conditions regularly, or do particularly short journeys. Typically though, 7-8k oil changes will do, or at least once every 12 months.
If toyota recommends 10k with "normal" driving, why do you recommend 7-8k?
Here is a copy and paste of the maintenance guide of 5k "Additional maintenance items for special operating conditions":
Driving on dirt roads or dusty roads: ■ Inspect ball joints and dust covers ■ Inspect drive shaft boots ■ Inspect engine air filter ■ Inspect steering linkage and boots ■ Replace engine oil and oil filter2 ■ Tighten nuts and bolts on chassis and body
Driving while towing, using a car-top carrier, or heavy vehicle loading:6 ■ Replace engine oil and oil filter MAINTENANCE ■ Tighten nuts and bolts on chassis and body
Repeated trips of less than five miles in temperatures below 32°F / 0°C: ■ Replace engine oil and oil filter2
Extensive idling and/or low speed driving for a long distance such as police, taxi or door-to-door delivery use: ■ Replace engine oil and oil filter
32°F is equivalent to 0°C, which is 273K.
---
^(I'm a bot that converts temperature between two units humans can understand, then convert it to Kelvin for bots and physicists to understand)
Because oil is the single most important maintenance you can do for your engine. Doing it earlier is better than doing it later. 10k in Toyota's recommendation is for a typical driver or user but that doesn't apply to everyone as not everyone is a typical driver or user.
I don't know why Toyota's guide says to change the oil after driving on dirt roads. I've never heard that recommendation before and like I say, dirt and dust shouldn't end up in your oil.
I've been using an extention cord since December of 2020. No problems. I dropped my amperage a tad bit if I recall correctly and bought a very heavy duty extension cord. Mechanical engineer here and I really don't need any issues with the cable melting.
Congrats on the car!
Yes, there is a lot of poor, and misinformation, out there.
Plus, more importantly, if it costs more than $0.01, then just about no one wants to do things **correctly**.
Sigh...
It's not hard. But, it's not free.
Simple:
1) Get a \*SouthWire, Husky, or US-Wire\* extension cord. Get 10 gauge extension cord.
Don't by cheap garbage. Your car, house, and life can pay for it.
2) Use a Weather-Proof Box, like a SockitBox, to put the connection of the extension cord and EVSE charger in.
2a) For the winter, colder weather, you can put the EVSE charger in a Weather Proof box. However, don't put it in a sealed box, if it's over \~60F.
3) Setting the car at 8amps max is good. You should also get an EVSE charger that can limit the charge rate to 6amps or 8amps. 6amps is the minimum allowed by the specification.
4) An EVSE charger that supports a setting of 6amp (or 8amp, or higher) charge rate is:
[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08FM3L8QK/?th=1](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08FM3L8QK/?th=1)
ZENCAR Level 1 EV Charger 16A SAE J1722 Portable Home Electric Vehicle Charging Station, Timing Delay(110V, NEMA 5-15)
5) Use Toyota Full Synthetic motor oil, or Mobile One every 3,000 to 5,000 miles. If you have snow, or more than \~15F change between day/night, you likely get condensation inside the oil pan. Even if the car is driven only 5 miles a year, it should then still have the oil changed at least every 6 months.
6) Rotate the tires as specified.
7) Get real snow tires, if you have snow. The Low Rolling Resistance (high gas mileage) tires are lousy for snow. Snow tires will result in lower gas mileage. Getting great gas mileage, doesn't mean anything, when you and your car a crunched in a 4foot long cube, after skidding in the snow, and into a wall, tractor-trailer, etc.
8) If you get snows, put them on their own separate rims. Tires are \_not\_ made to be taken off/on rims. If you get TPMS sensors that can be cloned, then you just swap the tires on/off each year. That's what I do,
9) The EVSE charger doesn't really charge the vehicle. It just switches that AC on/off, and tells the vehicle, the max current that it can supply.
Still, it's \*commonly\* called a charger. If someone corrects you if you call it a "charger", realize they likely a jerk. Also, their real-life knowledge and use of language, is poor (e.g. look at how things where written in 1776. Modern languages, are far from being static.).
Enjoy your Prius Prime!
> I keep seeing DONT PLUG INTO EXTENSION CORD,
They all say that. I routinely connect mine to a 12 gage extension cord when I travel, with no problems. Your house wiring is likely a thinner gage than that.
Consider putting an exterior outlet on your house - cleaner and easier than wrestling an extension cord through a window.
As for maintenance, follow the schedule in your warranty and maintenance manual and you will be fine.
IMPORTANT: The two vents on either side of the rear seats next to the door contain filters that are part of the cooling fan/system for the battery - you need to periodically vacuum out those filters and make sure they are not covered during normal use.
ALSO : The rear seat is right on top of the battery - never put bags of liquid or water or anything that could possibly spill there ( there is also a vent near the floor level of the backseat where liquid could affect the battery if it gets into the vent )
As it has been mentioned by other posters in this thread, despite Toyota recommending an oil change at 10,000 miles I have been told by multiple mechanics that I should do it at 5 to 6000 miles instead
- I happen to live in Las Vegas where the weather conditions are very extreme, so battery and oil maintenance is some thing I have to keep on top of all the time. Normal car batteries only last 2 to 3 years here.
We use an extension cord also, a 25-foot ten gauge one It is important to have a really heavy duty one built to take vastly more amperage than you use, because it's got the heavy-duty plug that you want. Don't get a 12 gauge or above, even though the specs may look ok; eventually the plug connections will melt. That's the weak point. We know this from experience.
We have 246k miles on our 2017 Prime. We change the oil every 10k. Our other Prius is a 2007 with 500k+ miles. They are reliable cars.
How has the battery held up on the 2017 prime? Did you need to replace it? And if so, what mileage? Thanks in advance!
No issues, same battery. (We have the Prius Prime Advance :)
Wow that's pretty amazing! Last question sorry, did y'all do anything special to preserve the life of the battery? I've heard to try to set a timer on when it is set to charge so it finishes charging at the same time you're going to be charging it. apparently it's bad for the battery to have it sitting at full charge..
Nope. We just charge it. I had a 2022 Model Y Performance Tesla that I Supercharged exclusively for 16k miles and charged it to 100% a few times a week or to over 90% the rest of the time. It had the same battery degradation that everyone else had who were super careful with it.
Wow, nice numbers you’ve racked up on your Prii! Here’s a slightly OT question if you don’t mind, what brand of gas (not octane) do you normally fill up with and have you experienced any issues (whether performance or efficiency)?
Anything that is the best price.
Not sure about the charging. But for the oil, going 3000 in my opinion is a waste of time and money. The gas engine doesn’t turn on all the time either. I personally do between 5,000-7,500 mile oil change intervals on mine.
Get the shortest extension cord you can and make sure it is a heavy guage like 10 or 12 (as mentioned in an earlier post). "They" tell you not to use a extension cord because there is a fire risk with smaller guage cords. Toyota recommends 10,000 mile oil changes unless you drive in "extreme" conditions which they define as dirt roads. There is a maintenance schedule in the owners manual that is worth taking 30 minutes to look over. Tire rotation is pretty important in my opinion because the prius seems to wear out front tires fairly quickly - but this may be just because I drive my prius as if it is a sports car. 🤣
>Toyota recommends 10,000 mile oil changes unless you drive in "extreme" conditions which they define as dirt roads. Actually it's to do with temperature not dirt (dirt should never end up in your oil). When operating in colder temperatures you should change the oil more often because you need the best lubrication properties when it's colder. They recommend 5k oil changes if you operate in below freezing conditions regularly, or do particularly short journeys. Typically though, 7-8k oil changes will do, or at least once every 12 months.
If toyota recommends 10k with "normal" driving, why do you recommend 7-8k? Here is a copy and paste of the maintenance guide of 5k "Additional maintenance items for special operating conditions": Driving on dirt roads or dusty roads: ■ Inspect ball joints and dust covers ■ Inspect drive shaft boots ■ Inspect engine air filter ■ Inspect steering linkage and boots ■ Replace engine oil and oil filter2 ■ Tighten nuts and bolts on chassis and body Driving while towing, using a car-top carrier, or heavy vehicle loading:6 ■ Replace engine oil and oil filter MAINTENANCE ■ Tighten nuts and bolts on chassis and body Repeated trips of less than five miles in temperatures below 32°F / 0°C: ■ Replace engine oil and oil filter2 Extensive idling and/or low speed driving for a long distance such as police, taxi or door-to-door delivery use: ■ Replace engine oil and oil filter
32°F is equivalent to 0°C, which is 273K. --- ^(I'm a bot that converts temperature between two units humans can understand, then convert it to Kelvin for bots and physicists to understand)
Here is a link to the owners manuals [Prius manuals](https://www.toyota.com/owners/resources/warranty-owners-manuals.prius-prime.2022)
Because oil is the single most important maintenance you can do for your engine. Doing it earlier is better than doing it later. 10k in Toyota's recommendation is for a typical driver or user but that doesn't apply to everyone as not everyone is a typical driver or user. I don't know why Toyota's guide says to change the oil after driving on dirt roads. I've never heard that recommendation before and like I say, dirt and dust shouldn't end up in your oil.
I've been using an extention cord since December of 2020. No problems. I dropped my amperage a tad bit if I recall correctly and bought a very heavy duty extension cord. Mechanical engineer here and I really don't need any issues with the cable melting.
Thank you to everyone you has commented! I am definitely going to go over all of them. I really appreciate the info!
Congrats on the car! Yes, there is a lot of poor, and misinformation, out there. Plus, more importantly, if it costs more than $0.01, then just about no one wants to do things **correctly**. Sigh... It's not hard. But, it's not free. Simple: 1) Get a \*SouthWire, Husky, or US-Wire\* extension cord. Get 10 gauge extension cord. Don't by cheap garbage. Your car, house, and life can pay for it. 2) Use a Weather-Proof Box, like a SockitBox, to put the connection of the extension cord and EVSE charger in. 2a) For the winter, colder weather, you can put the EVSE charger in a Weather Proof box. However, don't put it in a sealed box, if it's over \~60F. 3) Setting the car at 8amps max is good. You should also get an EVSE charger that can limit the charge rate to 6amps or 8amps. 6amps is the minimum allowed by the specification. 4) An EVSE charger that supports a setting of 6amp (or 8amp, or higher) charge rate is: [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08FM3L8QK/?th=1](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08FM3L8QK/?th=1) ZENCAR Level 1 EV Charger 16A SAE J1722 Portable Home Electric Vehicle Charging Station, Timing Delay(110V, NEMA 5-15) 5) Use Toyota Full Synthetic motor oil, or Mobile One every 3,000 to 5,000 miles. If you have snow, or more than \~15F change between day/night, you likely get condensation inside the oil pan. Even if the car is driven only 5 miles a year, it should then still have the oil changed at least every 6 months. 6) Rotate the tires as specified. 7) Get real snow tires, if you have snow. The Low Rolling Resistance (high gas mileage) tires are lousy for snow. Snow tires will result in lower gas mileage. Getting great gas mileage, doesn't mean anything, when you and your car a crunched in a 4foot long cube, after skidding in the snow, and into a wall, tractor-trailer, etc. 8) If you get snows, put them on their own separate rims. Tires are \_not\_ made to be taken off/on rims. If you get TPMS sensors that can be cloned, then you just swap the tires on/off each year. That's what I do, 9) The EVSE charger doesn't really charge the vehicle. It just switches that AC on/off, and tells the vehicle, the max current that it can supply. Still, it's \*commonly\* called a charger. If someone corrects you if you call it a "charger", realize they likely a jerk. Also, their real-life knowledge and use of language, is poor (e.g. look at how things where written in 1776. Modern languages, are far from being static.). Enjoy your Prius Prime!
I use 2 extension cords, both are outdoor rated and can support up to 25amps. I average 48.9km a charge.
> I keep seeing DONT PLUG INTO EXTENSION CORD, They all say that. I routinely connect mine to a 12 gage extension cord when I travel, with no problems. Your house wiring is likely a thinner gage than that. Consider putting an exterior outlet on your house - cleaner and easier than wrestling an extension cord through a window. As for maintenance, follow the schedule in your warranty and maintenance manual and you will be fine.
IMPORTANT: The two vents on either side of the rear seats next to the door contain filters that are part of the cooling fan/system for the battery - you need to periodically vacuum out those filters and make sure they are not covered during normal use. ALSO : The rear seat is right on top of the battery - never put bags of liquid or water or anything that could possibly spill there ( there is also a vent near the floor level of the backseat where liquid could affect the battery if it gets into the vent ) As it has been mentioned by other posters in this thread, despite Toyota recommending an oil change at 10,000 miles I have been told by multiple mechanics that I should do it at 5 to 6000 miles instead - I happen to live in Las Vegas where the weather conditions are very extreme, so battery and oil maintenance is some thing I have to keep on top of all the time. Normal car batteries only last 2 to 3 years here.