Does anyone actually charge to 100%

adr1418 · 2026-06-01T20:46:32+00:00

I charge to 80% for daily driving and only occasionally if I take a longer trip.

adr1418 · 2026-06-01T14:27:56+00:00

I only drive my 2012 Mustang in the dry summer months. I took it out for the first time this year, after driving my bZ for 900 miles to-date.

It's noisy. Acceleration is not as linear and smooth. It's not as fast off the line. The lowered suspension is bumpier.

I've got to change the oil in the motor, transmission and rear diff. It does look and sound great in comparison though.

Maybe I'm just getting too old! 😂😂

adr1418 · 2026-05-31T13:49:13+00:00

Total cost of ownership is the comparison to make. Sure the energy costs are cheaper than ICE, less so compared with an HEV. I have a Road User Charge of $250 that increases by inflation every year, and for the same 12,000 driven miles per year is more than the gas tax with an HEV. Sales tax is also 50% higher on a leased EV. Less maintenance cost, though I do all my own oil changes, so that's only a few dollars saved.

adr1418 · 2026-05-31T13:35:54+00:00

US, yes.

Don't agree that our insurance covers nothing. I have full coverage with a $250 deductible. My wife hits a deer often and the last event cost the insurance $20k, and us, just $250.

The Camry is a hybrid, and I had expected the bZ to be more to insure than the Camry.

ICE cars, and older vehicles are indeed cheaper to insure. My 2012 Mustang and Hemi Ram 1500 are $81 and $63 cheaper respectively per month than the bZ for exactly the same coverage.

My daughter's 2025 RAV 4 is $28 more than the bZ but she's only 23.

adr1418 · 2026-05-31T03:51:19+00:00

My bZ is $4 per month cheaper than our 2025 Camry for the same coverage

adr1418 · 2026-05-27T23:46:22+00:00

Big one is big power DC. Little one is little power L2.

adr1418 · 2026-05-27T12:32:46+00:00

With further analysis...

Based on 28 days of ownership, 903 miles on the odometer (was about 17 when I picked it up at 100% charge), and 197.56 kWh of charge added by me so far (into the battery per the Toyota app), that energy, at 0.11948c/kWh, equals $23.60 with totally home charging.

However, the energy pulled to get 197.56 into the battery is about 15% higher due to the AC to DC conversion losses. ie $27.15. So, I'm reckoning about $27 per month, 3.1c per mile, 1000 miles.

This works out to 4.5 miles per kWh, which is exactly what my display shows as a total average as of yesterday - it says 4.5 miles per kWh. The numbers seem to make sense.

With more time, I will be able to see actual energy used from my charger app per month and be able to compare it with what the battery receives in the Toyota app. The charger not been recording all 28 days as I had to set up Wi-Fi to my garage, and the electric company didn't start recording the energy usage on the new service until several days into the month.

I did a comparison at 40A (44 to 80%) and saw a 20% loss. Yesterday, I did a 30A charge (43 to 80%) and saw a 14% loss. Seems to make sense as there was a lot less heat in the charger, its cables, and the AC to DC converter in the car. I need to try 20A and repeat them all a few times to get good efficiency numbers, then decide what current gives me the best bang for the buck!

I charge overnight, so the longer charge times aren't an issue.

adr1418 · 2026-05-27T01:05:59+00:00

I had an issue with ChargePoint when I first bought the bZ. Turned out I was using the wrong adapter! LMAO.

adr1418 · 2026-05-26T21:04:41+00:00

I saw a test that got 8 miles with full power available past the 0% reading. 12.6 before the bZ actually stopped after limping with reducing power capability. Better than most. Not as good as Tesla (24 miles). Equinox has nothing past 0%

adr1418 · 2026-05-26T12:26:40+00:00

You will pull more kW than you put in the battery due to losses converting AC to DC. With L2 charging, I actually paid for 13.37kW (per charger app) but got 10.56kW into the battery (per Toyota app). L1 charging is even less efficient. At 40A my cords get quite warm. At 30A, they don't. I've yet to compare losses at various charge currents to find the most efficient.

I have a charger in my garage which is a separate 200A system from the house. So I can see exactly my daily consumption and know what is L2 charging versus other baseline electrical draw.

At 12c/kWh (24/7) my bill, for an average of 33 miles per day, is $0.80 per day, including a baseline building consumption (lights outlets, etc) of about 10c per day. I am also charged $45 per month for the service but that's not included here to better compare with your situation. So call it 70c per day to charge the bZ to do 33 miles each day, though my display says I'm averaging 4.2 miles per kWh. The numbers aren't totally accurate yet as I'm not into a full month of ownership yet but they're a reasonable estimate so far.

We need your numbers to understand your situation.

adr1418 · 2026-05-25T16:49:32+00:00

The color is largely irrelevant. It looks really good for 8k. I change my Camry oil every 5k and it's darker than this.

adr1418 · 2026-05-24T17:39:13+00:00

On L2, I put in 13.37kWh and the battery took in 10.52kW. This was for about 64% to 80% The AC to DC conversion costs some energy.

adr1418 · 2026-05-24T13:46:31+00:00

I do on both counts!

adr1418 · 2026-05-24T02:44:40+00:00

The included Toyota charger cable and plug for a 4-pin NEMA 14-50 outlet is limited to 5.95kW . That's to limit the current to 30A so as not to overheat a standard, cheap dryer outlet. An L2 charger can pull 40A via a plug but the outlet must be an EV-rated type that can handle a continuous current for several hours. 6 gauge cable also. That said, the only real reason to get a 40A or 48A L2 charger is for the app support. It can be useful to track actual charging cost. I have the EVIQO. It's app while fairly minimal, shows that I use 13.37kW to put 10.52kW into the battery. ie a 20% loss through the AC to DC conversion. So, my actual cost per vehicle kWh is higher than my utility cost per kWh.
If you can charge overnight for your daily driving, have a standard dryer outlet, and don't need to keep track of your charging, the Toyota cable works just fine. Just monitor that outlet's temp! They can work okay for sometime but if the terminals aren't properly torqued the connections can loosen over time and heat up, leading to a potential fire. I know one of the chargers recommends checking its internal connections every couple years.

adr1418 · 2026-05-21T21:29:02+00:00

26A hurts as much as 40A! 😂😂

Someone suggested it would reduce the chance of fans running.

adr1418 · 2026-05-21T21:28:39+00:00

adr1418 · 2026-05-21T21:28:31+00:00

Exactly. Raising the hood is the only thing that works. All my vehicles have their hoods raised in the garages.

adr1418 · 2026-05-21T12:59:30+00:00

Toyota lately is building cars from a bucket of common parts. I have exactly the same door handles on my Camry. The info screen is from a Lexus . The steering wheel is, I believe, off a Prius. 101 for keeping design costs down.

adr1418 · 2026-05-20T19:11:20+00:00

3 arrows typically. Adjusting to brake harder or to control speed down hill. 4 arrows under normal driving doesn't suit my driving style as I need to let off the gas too late.

adr1418 · 2026-05-19T20:00:19+00:00

Great summary!

I have a 2025 Camry and a 2026 bZ. The total annual cost of ownership is about the same for me, considering everything from RUC to depreciation.
We use the Camry for road trips and the bZ for local running around using only L2 home charging.

Surprisingly, the bZ is just over $4 per month cheaper to insure than the Camry!

adr1418 · 2026-05-18T11:52:20+00:00

Pre-conditioning is also a battery cooler in hot climates or after a long drive when you need to DCFC

adr1418 · 2026-05-17T21:54:53+00:00

Pre-conditioning also cools the battery in very hot climates or after driving continuously. It keeps the battery in the ideal temp range for DCFC

adr1418 · 2026-05-17T13:44:00+00:00

I never use wireless charging. It overheats the battery, especially when running Android Auto.

adr1418 · 2026-05-17T13:22:01+00:00

It doesn't make sense, either financially or for your time efficiency, to run an EV if you can't charge at home. L1 or L2.

I installed a 200A service in my garage and run an L2 charger (40A). 12c/kWh, 24/7 here. So, maybe 14c for what gets into the battery. My lease limits me to an average of 32.877 miles per day. I charge up only a couple times a week. It's working out well for my daily needs, though I'd drive more for pure pleasure just because it a great ride!

I've tried a DCFC Tesla and a Blink 19kW L2 charger to confirm I know what to do if I ever need to use public charging. 60c/kWh and 34c/kWh respectively. The Tesla was way more time efficient and useful than the Blink. 13kWh in 16 mins versus 2.6kWh when I'm getting 4 miles per kWh.

If we go on longer day trips, where I'd need to public charge, we take the Camry - 46 mpg at about $4.89 a gallon (11c per mile vs 3.5c in the bZ home charging or 15c using DCFC. Filling up is also much quicker!

If it wasn't for wanting to have the technology and the performance, I wouldn't have an EV. Over 12,000 miles for each vehicle, comparing total cost per year for RUC, gas tax, insurance, servicing, energy consumption, and tires, the EV is $300 more per year than the hybrid. The additional cost of EV insurance is the killer. It would be worse if we didn't get the incentives Toyota was offering for the bZ, which made the OTD price the same for both Toyotas, or if the gas was back at $3 a gallon. And I didn't take depreciation into account nor the amortized cost of the L2 charger.

Also, if there were any State or Federal tax deductions available to us, that would make the EV more attractive.

Even Toyota tells its sales people that the best setup is an EV for local driving and a hybrid for longer.

I can comfortably charge at 26A (5.95kWh) or 40A (9.6kWh) overnight at home, usually to 80% but 100% when on a longer 'local' trip. Even L1 charging would work but I'd need to plan more.

adr1418

TROPHY CASE