StefanoS

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.

HoustonLexusGuy

hi there! I’m trying to send you a PM about the charging cable. Can message me? It seems like I cannot start a message with you.

fordvferrari

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.

wrinkle

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.
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.

fordvferrari

That splitter should meet your needs.

StefanoS

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.

djrees

What OBD2 Dongle are you using to connect to your Lexus RX? I have seen comments of some that are good and many that are not. Curious what you are using that is known to work well with the Lexus RX.

WellsB

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+.

wrinkle

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.

WellsB

Not according to this;
https://priusapp.com/
OBD2 to buy

You can also see other adapters that work there.

wrinkle

For anyone following the charger business, I returned the Vevor charger in favor of the along with the above splitter. This Topdon charger is available for $ 190 - $ 200 as time-limited deals, which is when I snagged one. The reason being - it allows for true wallclock-time based scheduling for turning on the charging at during specific hours when my utility has lower electricity rates at home (the Vevor charger promised the same in ads but does not allow it truly - instead it only allows delaying the charge start by x hours). The Topdon charger also allows for hardwiring instead of using the NEMA 10-30 port if one so desires. Its maximum charging current is 40 Amps, and minimum is 6 Amps - I generally used it at 8 Amps. I have now set the in-car charging maximum to 16 Amps (instead of default Max setting) so that I never inadvertently exceed 16 Amps charging current - just as an additional safety measure. The additional grounding wire provided by the adapter provides the necessary grounding despite the NEMA 10-30 use. In general, the Topdon charger also seems to be of better quality in fit/finish at least - while the Vevor one emphasized lower cost.

StefanoS

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:

wrinkle

Yes, with these charger makers that are many in number, they often release products with both the hw and the sw/fw in "beta" phase - essentially instead of in-house rigorous testing/validation - they use actual customers to provide their "data". I suppose that's what happened with the 2 dud chargers. So I filtered based on how long a product has been on the market. I also would've really liked the 25 foot cable, so that I don't have to back my car into the garage for charging - but that's a habit I'm trying to build anyways, because everywhere else at work etc, charging EVs requires backing into the parking spot (except for a few EVs that seem to have front charging ports). Just one of many new habits to form with EVs, but I definitely glad I'm not having to deal with range anxiety

Dhill

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.

asj2024

Interesting on the need to refuel at least 20 L (5.3 gallons) per year. I actually still have to break in the engine, and will hopefully get to use HV this weekend. Most times I drive within the local area, and I may deliberately use HV at those times just to continue the break in process.

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!