2024 RX 450h+ Initial Impressions
#61
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I left mine set at Max, as well. For the factory Lexus chargers, it will not matter, as it will not charge at any higher rate than the charger's output.
#62
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WellsB is correct however, you can cut the charging time almost in half by plugging the Lexus supplied 120v charger into 240v. I opted to do this, rather than buying a Level 2 charger, which cuts charging time even more. My RX450h+ charges up in around 4.5 to 6.5 hours. The factory supplied charger is the same worldwide, except for the male plug on the cord. It is rated for 240v and in North America, a short adapter can be purchased on Amazon, or fabricated from parts available at Home Depot or Amazon. After charging my 450h+, I always unplug the adapter to insure that no one can plug a 120v appliance into 240v. I use a 30 Amp dryer outlet for mine but, when my wife's new NX450h+ arrives, I will be plugging her's into a 50 Amp outlet that I installed on the opposite side of the garage. At some point, I may opt for a Level 2 charger but, so far, so good using this method.
#63
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The Vevor charger is a safe way to charge faster.
The standard grounded appliance plug in the US, called a NEMA 5-15, has 2 blades and a round ground pin. One blade is the hot, 120v. The other blade is the neutral. The round pin is the ground. You’ll find these 15-amp plugs on appliances, electronics, lights and extension cords.
Double-insulated tools and appliances aren’t required to have a ground and use a plug with 2 blades.
In countries where the household voltage is 240v, a grounded plug will have one blade/pin for the hot, 240v, one for the neutral and one for ground.
Older homes in the US may have a three-prong 240v, 30-amp dryer receptacle, NEMA 10-30. When using this cord configuration, the dryer must be properly grounded.
There is a safety issue when using an adapter cable for the 30-amp dryer receptacle to connect to the NEMA 5-15 plug on the Lexus charger. With an adapter, both blades on the Lexus plug receive 120v, (120v + 120v = 240v). The grounding pin is used as the neutral. The ground has been eliminated from the plug. The charger is not a double insulated appliance and you could become the ground if there is a fault in the Lexus charger.
Please be safe. 240v chargers like the Vevor using either a 240v 30-amp or 240v 50-amp receptacle are affordable.
The standard grounded appliance plug in the US, called a NEMA 5-15, has 2 blades and a round ground pin. One blade is the hot, 120v. The other blade is the neutral. The round pin is the ground. You’ll find these 15-amp plugs on appliances, electronics, lights and extension cords.
Double-insulated tools and appliances aren’t required to have a ground and use a plug with 2 blades.
In countries where the household voltage is 240v, a grounded plug will have one blade/pin for the hot, 240v, one for the neutral and one for ground.
Older homes in the US may have a three-prong 240v, 30-amp dryer receptacle, NEMA 10-30. When using this cord configuration, the dryer must be properly grounded.
There is a safety issue when using an adapter cable for the 30-amp dryer receptacle to connect to the NEMA 5-15 plug on the Lexus charger. With an adapter, both blades on the Lexus plug receive 120v, (120v + 120v = 240v). The grounding pin is used as the neutral. The ground has been eliminated from the plug. The charger is not a double insulated appliance and you could become the ground if there is a fault in the Lexus charger.
Please be safe. 240v chargers like the Vevor using either a 240v 30-amp or 240v 50-amp receptacle are affordable.
#64
Intermediate
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The Vevor charger is a safe way to charge faster.
The standard grounded appliance plug in the US, called a NEMA 5-15, has 2 blades and a round ground pin. One blade is the hot, 120v. The other blade is the neutral. The round pin is the ground. You’ll find these 15-amp plugs on appliances, electronics, lights and extension cords.
Double-insulated tools and appliances aren’t required to have a ground and use a plug with 2 blades.
In countries where the household voltage is 240v, a grounded plug will have one blade/pin for the hot, 240v, one for the neutral and one for ground.
Older homes in the US may have a three-prong 240v, 30-amp dryer receptacle, NEMA 10-30. When using this cord configuration, the dryer must be properly grounded.
There is a safety issue when using an adapter cable for the 30-amp dryer receptacle to connect to the NEMA 5-15 plug on the Lexus charger. With an adapter, both blades on the Lexus plug receive 120v, (120v + 120v = 240v). The grounding pin is used as the neutral. The ground has been eliminated from the plug. The charger is not a double insulated appliance and you could become the ground if there is a fault in the Lexus charger.
Please be safe. 240v chargers like the Vevor using either a 240v 30-amp or 240v 50-amp receptacle are affordable.
The standard grounded appliance plug in the US, called a NEMA 5-15, has 2 blades and a round ground pin. One blade is the hot, 120v. The other blade is the neutral. The round pin is the ground. You’ll find these 15-amp plugs on appliances, electronics, lights and extension cords.
Double-insulated tools and appliances aren’t required to have a ground and use a plug with 2 blades.
In countries where the household voltage is 240v, a grounded plug will have one blade/pin for the hot, 240v, one for the neutral and one for ground.
Older homes in the US may have a three-prong 240v, 30-amp dryer receptacle, NEMA 10-30. When using this cord configuration, the dryer must be properly grounded.
There is a safety issue when using an adapter cable for the 30-amp dryer receptacle to connect to the NEMA 5-15 plug on the Lexus charger. With an adapter, both blades on the Lexus plug receive 120v, (120v + 120v = 240v). The grounding pin is used as the neutral. The ground has been eliminated from the plug. The charger is not a double insulated appliance and you could become the ground if there is a fault in the Lexus charger.
Please be safe. 240v chargers like the Vevor using either a 240v 30-amp or 240v 50-amp receptacle are affordable.
![Smilie](https://www.clublexus.com/forums/images/smilies/smile.gif)
In case the App/software problem doesn't work out, I might go for a NEMA 14-50 based charger (just $ 60 more expensive, but definitely having wallclock-time based charging ability from its app) together with this splitter/adapter that especially takes care of the grounding based on the additional grounding wire. Please let us know if you see a problem with its safe design, if you can.
The above adapter also allows having both the dryer and the charger connected all the time (no plugging/unplugging repeatedly that can degrade the connections) - although I will NOT charge and use the dryer at the same time. I will likely charge at 6-8 Amps when charging the car alone - to be as conservative and also practical.
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StefanoS (01-28-24)
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wrinkle (01-27-24)
#66
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You can PM me by clicking on my name, StefanoS. Looking at yours..... HoustonLexusGuy, it looks as if you are not set up to do messaging. Go into your account and set it up and you'll be good to go. It may be cuz you just joined the forum....not certain.
Last edited by StefanoS; 01-29-24 at 07:13 AM.
#67
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Took the RX for a 50 mile drive today, mostly at a steady 55 MPH and a few miles of city street driving. Managed 42.6 miles on EV before the engine started. I averaged 3.0 miles per kwh or about 14.2 kwh of usable capacity. I've read that it has 14.5 kwh of usable capacity and that is within the rounding error for my calculation.
I downloaded the Dr Prius app and found that the battery stops charging at 90% state of charge(this shows as 100% in the Lexus app) and ran down to 13.33% SOC before starting the engine. I believe it stays within those limits to protect the battery lifespan, to provide for hybrid-operations at those extremes, and to ensure the engine will start.(on the low end) It then charged back up to 14.5% fairly quickly and stayed around that level for the rest of the steady highway speeds. When I exited the highway, it regened up to 15.3% and was still there when I parked.
The Dr Prius app shows battery SOC as well as charge/discharge rate, pack temperatures, and the voltage level of the 12v battery. You need a wireless OBD2 dongle to connect the app to the vehicle.
I downloaded the Dr Prius app and found that the battery stops charging at 90% state of charge(this shows as 100% in the Lexus app) and ran down to 13.33% SOC before starting the engine. I believe it stays within those limits to protect the battery lifespan, to provide for hybrid-operations at those extremes, and to ensure the engine will start.(on the low end) It then charged back up to 14.5% fairly quickly and stayed around that level for the rest of the steady highway speeds. When I exited the highway, it regened up to 15.3% and was still there when I parked.
The Dr Prius app shows battery SOC as well as charge/discharge rate, pack temperatures, and the voltage level of the 12v battery. You need a wireless OBD2 dongle to connect the app to the vehicle.
#68
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I'm using an OBDLink MX. I like it because they offer periodic firmware updates so it's still working with the latest vehicles after 9 years of ownership. It doesn't work on an iPhone though. The OBDLink MX+ and MX WiFi work with iPhone. If I were buying one today, it would be the MX+.
#69
Intermediate
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I'm using an OBDLink MX. I like it because they offer periodic firmware updates so it's still working with the latest vehicles after 9 years of ownership. It doesn't work on an iPhone though. The OBDLink MX+ and MX WiFi work with iPhone. If I were buying one today, it would be the MX+.
I have it from before, from my Audi days, so wondering if Dr. Prius needs its specific ODBII scanner or if Bluedrivers don't allow other apps.
#70
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Perhaps being lazy here in not figuring it out myself, but do you know if the Dr. Prius app work with Bluedriver ODBII ? https://us.bluedriver.com/pages/bluedriver
I have it from before, from my Audi days, so wondering if Dr. Prius needs its specific ODBII scanner or if Bluedrivers don't allow other apps.
I have it from before, from my Audi days, so wondering if Dr. Prius needs its specific ODBII scanner or if Bluedrivers don't allow other apps.
https://priusapp.com/
OBD2 to buy
You can also see other adapters that work there.
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wrinkle (02-03-24)
#71
Intermediate
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I'm delighted to be in very erudite company here
While the Vevor charger may be good enough, I'm still not certain whether I'll keep it because of the time-based charging (i.e. Wallclock time-based, not a X-hour delay based) is kludgy is the app - I'm still testing if the method I devised, works all the time (i.e. doesn't start charging before my desired charging time after midnight).
In case the App/software problem doesn't work out, I might go for a NEMA 14-50 based charger (just $ 60 more expensive, but definitely having wallclock-time based charging ability from its app) together with this splitter/adapter that especially takes care of the grounding based on the additional grounding wire. Please let us know if you see a problem with its safe design, if you can. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...KC78981M&psc=1
The above adapter also allows having both the dryer and the charger connected all the time (no plugging/unplugging repeatedly that can degrade the connections) - although I will NOT charge and use the dryer at the same time. I will likely charge at 6-8 Amps when charging the car alone - to be as conservative and also practical.
![Smilie](https://www.clublexus.com/forums/images/smilies/smile.gif)
In case the App/software problem doesn't work out, I might go for a NEMA 14-50 based charger (just $ 60 more expensive, but definitely having wallclock-time based charging ability from its app) together with this splitter/adapter that especially takes care of the grounding based on the additional grounding wire. Please let us know if you see a problem with its safe design, if you can. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...KC78981M&psc=1
The above adapter also allows having both the dryer and the charger connected all the time (no plugging/unplugging repeatedly that can degrade the connections) - although I will NOT charge and use the dryer at the same time. I will likely charge at 6-8 Amps when charging the car alone - to be as conservative and also practical.
#72
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The Topdon appears to be a good unit, especially at that price level. The 16 foot cord would be a bit too short for my needs but, I see that they have one with a 25 foot cord for $46 more. Still, at $246, it's a good buy. I finally caved and bought a level 2 charger. When it showed up, it was DOA. Assuming that it was a fluke, I ordered another one, which was also a dud. The company has only an email address for tech support and no phone number. When they responded, they wanted me to ship their unit directly to them and they would send me a working replacement. Thinking that this was not a good idea, I returned both to Amazon. I opted for an Emporia charger, which has a good rep. So far, it has worked well but, is very similar to the Topdon unit. My only regret is that I didn't find that one before. Nice choice, Wrinkle!
The two dud units that I bought: The Emporia unit:
The two dud units that I bought: The Emporia unit:
Last edited by StefanoS; 02-12-24 at 07:53 AM.
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wrinkle (02-12-24)
#73
Intermediate
![Smile](https://www.clublexus.com/forums/images/icons/icon7.gif)
The Topdon appears to be a good unit, especially at that price level. The 16 foot cord would be a bit too short for my needs but, I see that they have one with a 25 foot cord for $46 more. Still, at $246, it's a good buy. I finally caved and bought a level 2 charger. When it showed up, it was DOA. Assuming that it was a fluke, I ordered another one, which was also a dud. The company has only an email address for tech support and no phone number. When they responded, they wanted me to ship their unit directly to them and they would send me a working replacement. Thinking that this was not a good idea, I returned both to Amazon. I opted for an Emporia charger, which has a good rep. So far, it has worked well but, is very similar to the Topdon unit. My only regret is that I didn't find that one before. Nice choice, Wrinkle!
The two dud units that I bought: https://www.amazon.com/RhEVchar-Char...zcF9hdGY&psc=1
The Emporia unit: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=emporia+e...s_ts-doa-p_1_7
The two dud units that I bought: https://www.amazon.com/RhEVchar-Char...zcF9hdGY&psc=1
The Emporia unit: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=emporia+e...s_ts-doa-p_1_7
#74
Pit Crew
Thread Starter
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I got the ChargePoint Home Flex back in October. It is one of the most expensive ones at over $550. Worked right out of the box. It gives me a pretty good estimate of my costs based on my power company rates. The software gets the rates for the calculations from my power company but not sure how accurate they are, but close enough. If I use one of their public chargers, it keeps track of that cost also. My only issue with them is they disabled the ability to change the breaker amps in their apps if you change/upgrade your system. I upgraded my breaker from 40 amps to 50 amps. Did not need it for the RX, but I wanted to future proof the box if I ever decide to add an EV or if I have a guest who could use the higher amps. I need to call them to see if they can do that on their end.
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wrinkle (02-12-24)
#75
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As to my experience so far (2-3 weeks old, around 311 miles traveled), very very satisfied. Ride quality (whether HV or EV) is excellent, and the tech gizmos are cool without being excessively gimmicky.
We do very long distance interstate travels at least twice a year, so this will probably be a very comfortable way to do that.
PROS:
1. Ride quality. Quiet, comfortable, solid.
2. HUD - how did I get along without this before? It even gives turn by turn when incoming street is near.
3. Indoor door opener. Yeah, the wife did get confused at first, but I like it. Very ergonomic
4. Voice control. Excellent. Can give commands and shut down navigation without needing to touch anything.
5. Exterior paint - awesome looking pearl white. My Prius is blizzard pearl or something, and I've always liked how they look under moonlight.
6. Panorama view - love it. I can back out and move in tight spaces without worrying about hitting stuff.
7. Safety systems - the pedestrian warning and other items makes me feel very safe.
8. Self -parking - kinda gimmicky, but I tried it and it worked like a charm
CONS
1. Puddle light - this wasn't on sticker, so I guess I got a freebie. Gimmicky.
2. Ambient light - hmmmm...kinda cool, but not in a lot of places, and so a bit gimmicky
3. Auto headlights - I'm always worried I'm blinding someone in front. Lotsa golf carts here too.
4. ML audio - ok so far, but I don't listen to music much (just books on tape), and it's $1.5 k!