Toyota RAV4 Forums banner
Cancel
Create thread New Garage Forums

RAV4 Prime Charge mode question

Jump to Latest
1 - 12 of 12 Posts

Brandrea3

· Registered
Joined
·
79 Posts
Discussion starter · #1 ·
Good day folks.

Ive owned my RAV4 Prime for about a month or so now, and I’m really enjoying it.

I‘ve only done one longer (for me) road trip which was about 80 KM at highway speed (110 km/h). For those of you in the GTA you’d know the drive well, from KW to Toronto on the 401.

Anyhow, when I left home I only had about 10 KM of EV range indicated. I put it into charge mode and when I got to my destination in Toronto it increased to 19 KM of EV range. The car was in charge mode the whole time.

Im curious to know if this sounds about right … 80 KM in charge mode to gain about 10 KM of EV range.

Thanks, Brian.
 
#2 ·
The charge mode will use excess energy from the engine to add charge to the traction battery. If you are driving on a secondary road, going 70 or 80 Km/hr, there is more leftover energy and in most circumstances, will charge faster than if going on the highway at 110 or 120 km/hr. Plus, in winter, some of that energy is also used in warming the cabin and battery, so I assume the charging will be slower in winter, at highway speeds.

It is the general consensus that using charge mode to charge the battery when driving is not cost effective or efficient. But can be useful if you are low on battery and are going to be needing charge because of camping, or maybe wanting to drive in EV mode once arriving in urban areas that limit to EV only vehicles, or some other unique circumstances. It is usually cheaper just to use in hybrid mode, and charge once you have access to a charger.

Congrats on your purchase and happy learning ;), there is lots.

dp
 
Discussion starter · #3 ·
dpostman said:
The charge mode will use excess energy from the engine to add charge to the traction battery. If you are driving on a secondary road, going 70 or 80 Km/hr, there is more leftover energy and in most circumstances, will charge faster than if going on the highway at 110 or 120 km/hr. Plus, in winter, some of that energy is also used in warming the cabin and battery, so I assume the charging will be slower in winter, at highway speeds.

It is the general consensus that using charge mode to charge the battery when driving is not cost effective or efficient. But can be useful if you are low on battery and are going to be needing charge because of camping, or maybe wanting to drive in EV mode once arriving in urban areas that limit to EV only vehicles, or some other unique circumstances. It is usually cheaper just to use in hybrid mode, and charge once you have access to a charger.

Congrats on your purchase and happy learning ;), there is lots.

dp
Click to expand...
Thanks for the reply, and yes I understood how the charge mode works.

I guess I’m more interested in knowing whether the example I used sounds about right.

I drove about 80 KM‘s to achieve a 9-10km gain in EV. I figured maybe it would be more.

Cheers!
 
#4 ·
Brandrea3 said:
I drove about 80 KM‘s to achieve a 9-10km gain in EV. I figured maybe it would be more.
Click to expand...
Question I would have:

80KM of driving is about an hour. How much EV battery range increase would you get in an hour if you plugged your car into the wall outlet?
 
#6 ·
Brandrea3 said:
I drove about 80 KM‘s to achieve a 9-10km gain in EV. I figured maybe it would be more.
Click to expand...
I don't have numbers from my OBD logs in front of me, but off-hand those numbers sound about right. Charge mode is not particularly fast. The engine would really have to be screaming to top the traction battery up quickly, I assume.
 
Discussion starter · #8 ·
dummyvariable said:
I don't have numbers from my OBD logs in front of me, but off-hand those numbers sound about right. Charge mode is not particularly fast. The engine would really have to be screaming to top the traction battery up quickly, I assume.
Click to expand...
Thanks very much. I guess I was surprised because my previous car (330e) would charge to 80% on a trip like that. Now that I think of it though, it was a smaller battery and ev range was only 30km. It makes more sense now based on FKheaths reply.
 
Discussion starter · #10 ·
old timer said:
I have found that plugged in to 120V provide a little over 7Kms per hour of charging. IMHO, charge mode simply to add Kms to the battery is not economical.
Click to expand...
You’re probably right. My thinking was top off the battery so that I could drive around the city in all electric for the weekend.

Now that I know / better understand the rate of charge in “charge” mode, I probably won’t use that feature again on a trip like this.
 
#11 ·
Brandrea3 said:
You’re probably right. My thinking was top off the battery so that I could drive around the city in all electric for the weekend.

Now that I know / better understand the rate of charge in “charge” mode, I probably won’t use that feature again on a trip like this.
Click to expand...
Look for free charging in the Big Smoke and you'll be golden!
 
#12 ·
Brandrea3 said:
Good day folks.

Ive owned my RAV4 Prime for about a month or so now, and I’m really enjoying it.

I‘ve only done one longer (for me) road trip which was about 80 KM at highway speed (110 km/h). For those of you in the GTA you’d know the drive well, from KW to Toronto on the 401.

Anyhow, when I left home I only had about 10 KM of EV range indicated. I put it into charge mode and when I got to my destination in Toronto it increased to 19 KM of EV range. The car was in charge mode the whole time.

Im curious to know if this sounds about right … 80 KM in charge mode to gain about 10 KM of EV range.

Thanks, Brian.
Click to expand...
The R4P charges slower when plugged in after a drive, then when charging from sitting - cold. When I charge cold it takes 2:40 hrs @ 240v and when i come in hot from work it will take 3:10- 3:20.
Also when you have a mostly full charge it will charge slower as it comes up to the Stated 100%. Example cold 1 hour is 32-miles, 2nd hour is 42 total (So, 10 -miles), and final 40 min is 47-50 (5-8 miles depending upon your average.) total EV ready miles.
But maybe i am missing something here. We have a charge mode while driving? that seems like a poor idea. gas generation of electricity is about 25%. Why waste 75% of your fuel to gain 25% charging.
 
1 - 12 of 12 Posts
About this Discussion
11 Replies
8 Participants
Last post:
beesonmichael
Toyota RAV4 Forums
posts
1.1M
members
174K
Since
2004
Rav 4 World is the internet's largest Toyota Rav4 SUV and EV online forum community. Discuss towing, modifications, and more.
Full Forum Listing
Explore Our Forums
4.3 General 4.3 Mechanical 4.5 RAV4 Hybrid (except Prime) 4.5 RAV4 Prime 4.3 Exterior