Dav
Well-known member
Daniel, production EVs (Tesla, RAV4-EV, EV1, S10) allow for timed charging. Their BMS tracks how much electricity into the battery and how much out. Any timed charger can be cut off before the end of the charging cycle and the car still knows how much juice it has. This is necessary to allow for "opportunity" charging while shopping or out for an evening. You charge for an hour and leave. No big deal.
This is also how you allow for "time-of-use" metering at home. Set the time for 1:00 AM and charge with cheaper electrons.
With the RAV4-EV there is a Palm application to tell you when to stop charging based on the % you want the vehicle to be full. You tell it a start time and current SOC, it tells you the end time.
This is also the easy way for those "mountain top" dwellers to take advantage of free electrons when heading down in the morning.
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Also, the RAV4-EV has what it calls "Turtle Mode". There really is an icon of a turtle on the dash. When you get really low on charge, the turtle lights up. A few miles later the turtle starts an audible warning and your speed and acceleration are dramatically reduced.
This is also how you allow for "time-of-use" metering at home. Set the time for 1:00 AM and charge with cheaper electrons.
With the RAV4-EV there is a Palm application to tell you when to stop charging based on the % you want the vehicle to be full. You tell it a start time and current SOC, it tells you the end time.
This is also the easy way for those "mountain top" dwellers to take advantage of free electrons when heading down in the morning.
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Also, the RAV4-EV has what it calls "Turtle Mode". There really is an icon of a turtle on the dash. When you get really low on charge, the turtle lights up. A few miles later the turtle starts an audible warning and your speed and acceleration are dramatically reduced.