Congrats on getting a hybrid vehicle. Me and my wife were buying a Toyota EV. We traded it in and are now buying a Toyota HV. The HV is a 2021 RAV4 Prime which has the ability to be 100% electric or 100% gas or a combination of both.
Some information I've learned since owning this Rav4 Prime:
EV is an electric powered vehicle.
HV is electric & gas powered vehicle.
It's common courtesy to let EV powered vehicles charge before an HV powered vehicle because the EV needs electricity to drive, where as the HV has the option to drive with gasoline....and gasoline is easier to obtain relative quickly.
Level 2 Stations don't cost any money to use.......When charging at a Level 2 station, I don't lock my charge port and I put a note on the handle stating: "Take the plug if you need power". Lots of HV owners do this for the benefit of the EV owners.
You can buy charger adapters for use at Tesla charge stations.
"Filling up" at a Tesla "Super Charger" station is not always cheaper than filling a tank full of gas.
"Destination Chargers" belong to property owners on which the chargers are installed and the amount of $$$ it cost to use them is set by the individual property owner......... Much like the cost to use a privately owned ATM. The prices are not regulated.
However......if you see 6 (six) Tesla chargers next to privately owned Destination Chargers, the Destination Chargers prices will infact be regulated to the standards in which the Tesla chargers are regulated.........I don't know why this is, but it is.
These Destination Chargers (without Tesla chargers present) are a rip off. The battery range increases approximately half the rate of the minutes the charger is connected. By this I mean, (example) if you charge for 60 minutes, your vehicle range increases 30 miles, and it costs $7..... When you could have simply pulled into a gas station pumped $5 worth of gas and been back on the road in 5 minutes & drive 30 miles.
Get a 220v home charger kit installed ASAP.
The 110v home chargers are too slow (12 hours)........you'll find that you'll be charging (often) during peak $$$ electricity prices.
The 220v home chargers can reach full charge in 3 hours from zero range.
220v power cost more per hour than 120v power, but 3 hours of 220v cost way less than 12 hours of 120v.....if that makes sense.
If you do get a home charger, buy an ON/OFF timer and schedule it to charge between the hours of 10pm-1am.
Depending on your hybrid, if it's capable of running completely on battery power and you use it strictly as an electrical vehicle, start the gasoline engine atleast once every couple weeks. Helps keep oil from draining out of engine parts which you don't want it draining from.
Here's a biggie, but if you own your house, to maximize the financial benefit of owning a hybrid vehicle, convert your house to solar, install an inverter system which sends excess electricity back into your city infrastructure power grid. This is how I have power set up in my home. None of my electricity bills this year have been over $30. I now only charge the Rav4 hybrid at home. So basically it's costs next to nothing to drive.
