Rx400H Hv Battery Top Up

[Isee]

Is there a quick and easy way to add a trickle charger or a solar Battery to top up the main Battery?

My daily commute is extremely Battery intensive and usually means I have 2 bars remaining by the time I reach the open sky car park, where the car sits while I work.

Adding a solar charger for the 8-10 hours would, i think, see a significant MPG improvement.

I also looked at the Enginer.us kits, they look interesting but only seem to be made for Us sockets.

Any thoughts on that?

[David RX450h]

Didn't need that for RX (it might change), but for my little Merc I installed an always-on power socket and bought a 4W Solar Panel Trickle Charger - works great.

[lurch]

I got a solar charger from amazon £29.99 made by the AA which simply plugs into the OBDM socket near where the bonnet pull is under dash , have used this when away on holiday and car left for a while seems good.

[David RX450h]

Yes, good solution too, particularly for a large car, such as RX.

[lurch]

OBDII port ,that's it thought I got that wrong. Looking at the post above I think he might mean the main hybrid batteries and not the aux starting Battery so the solar charger plugged in there may not be any good for him.

[nelmo]

Is there a quick and easy way to add a trickle charger or a solar battery to top up the main battery?

My daily commute is extremely battery intensive and usually means I have 2 bars remaining by the time I reach the open sky car park, where the car sits while I work.

Adding a solar charger for the 8-10 hours would, i think, see a significant MPG improvement.

I also looked at the Enginer.us kits, they look interesting but only seem to be made for Us sockets.

Any thoughts on that?

I'm afraid you've got your technologies confused. Solar panels you're thinking about are only designed for 12V batteries - the main Lexus batteries are very high voltage and a solar panel will make minimal impact on them, even if you could work out where to connect it.

[David RX450h]

Spot on Neil, and as Phil said, solar won't be any use for main batteries. I should learn to read posts thoroughly LOL

But, still a good solution to keep 12V Battery from going flat

[Isee]

Is there a quick and easy way to add a trickle charger or a solar battery to top up the main battery?

My daily commute is extremely battery intensive and usually means I have 2 bars remaining by the time I reach the open sky car park, where the car sits while I work.

Adding a solar charger for the 8-10 hours would, i think, see a significant MPG improvement.

I also looked at the Enginer.us kits, they look interesting but only seem to be made for Us sockets.

Any thoughts on that?

I'm afraid you've got your technologies confused. Solar panels you're thinking about are only designed for 12V batteries - the main Lexus batteries are very high voltage and a solar panel will make minimal impact on them, even if you could work out where to connect it.

I see. Thanks for spotting what the actual question was though.

I did think that it was weird that manufacturers aren't bothering with solar panels in the roof, seemed like a massive oversight.

Well that's a shame. I am really happy with my lexus RX400h, but I wish it had more control/optionality regarding getting more mpg.

It's funny, my last car did 9mpg and I didn't care, with this one I feel like I am playing a game called keep up the MPG, and I hate losing! :)

does anyone know if the RX450h has a Battery only mode? Does it insist on warming up in the morning even if the heater is off? Id it a haigher capacity Battery than the rx400h?

[DanD]

What do you mean by "I wish it had more control/optionality regarding getting more mpg". It is all done automatically for you an in an optimum manner...

Yes, there is a button marked EV which allows you to run on Battery power only. However, the system will override this if the Battery needs charging up.

You will not be able to run on electric power only until the car has reached normal operating temperature.

[nelmo]

Yes, there is a button marked EV which allows you to run on battery power only.

Is there? Where's that?

[DanD]

ah ermm... I was pretty sure that the RX450h, like the CT200h, had a EV button that allowed you to switch to electric power only. Am I getting my Lexuses/Lexii confused?

[Duncan Roberts]

ah ermm... I was pretty sure that the RX450h, like the CT200h, had a EV button that allowed you to switch to electric power only. Am I getting my Lexuses/Lexii confused?

I have never found an "EV" switch on my RX400H.

[ColinBarber]

ah ermm... I was pretty sure that the RX450h, like the CT200h, had a EV button that allowed you to switch to electric power only. Am I getting my Lexuses/Lexii confused?

I have never found an "EV" switch on my RX400H.

There is an EV is on the RX450h but not the older 400h

[ColinBarber]

Even if you could connect it into the hybrid Battery safely it really wouldn't make any difference. A normal solar charger would struggle to charge up a single cell in 8 hours of UK sunlight and the hybrid Battery pack is made up of 240 cells.

[DanD]

Sorry. Got my posts confused.

No EV switch on RX400h. Only on RX450h