Okay, I noticed something odd about my remote timer. I have been using it pretty consistently the past couple of weeks. When I get home from work, I plug my Meepster in right away and set the remote timer to delay the charging until sometime after 10pm when the electric rates drop. In another thread, I had posted that I wish the timer was based on an actual time to start charging rather than a delayed number of hours until it starts charging. However, something that I've noticed the past few days makes me think there must be SOME type of 24-hour clock/timer built into the remote.
On Monday when I got home from work, I plugged in my i-MiEV around 5:30pm and set the remoter time to begin charging in six hours, which would make it start at roughly 11:30pm well after the electric rates drop. I remember reading in the manual when I first got my car that the remote should retain the delayed hours settings for subsequent timer-controlled charge sessions. Meaning, each night after the first night, if you just press the up/down button once, the remote should automatically default to whatever delay you used last. In my case, I assumed that on Tuesday night, it should default to a 6-hour delay since that's what I had used on Monday night.
Well, on Tuesday night, I got home a little later than I had on Monday night, I plugged in my MiEV and powered on the remote. I hit the up button once and it displayed a delayed start time of 5.5 hours. I thought that was odd since I assumed it should have defaulted back to a 6-hour delay since that is what I had used Monday night. Well, 5.5 hours put me well past 10pm when the rates dropped. So, I didn't think anything more of it and just kept the 5.5 hour delayed start.
Last night when I got home, plugged in, and turned on the remote, the default setting was 4.5 hours. Odd that it had yet ANOTHER different delay time, but still put me past the 10pm rate drop. Set it and forget it!
Well, tonight, I got home much later than any of the previous nights; 8pm to be exact. When I plugged in and powered on the timer, the default delayed start time was 3.5 hours. I started getting upset as this is SOOOOOO not how the manual says the remote timer should retain the last timer setting. How the hell am I supposed to rely on this thing if it keeps changing all the time??? Well, a quick calculation in my head told me the 3.5 hours put me past the 10pm rate drop again. So, I just hit the "program" button again and headed into my house.
THAT'S when it hit me! Wait a minute. I got home and plugged in my Meepster at 8pm tonight and the remote timer had defaulted to 3.5 hours. That put the start time at roughly 11:30pm. I thought back to the previous nights and did some more calculations. Wednesday night, I had gotten home and plugged in at 7pm and the remote defaulted to 4.5 hours. Again, a start time of about 11:30pm. Tuesday I had plugged in at 6pm with a default delay of 5.5 hours. 11:30pm again! Monday night when all this had started, I had plugged in at 5:30pm and set a delay of 6 hours... 11:30pm!
So, it appears that as long as you use the remote timer every day and always use whatever default delayed start setting that pops up, the remote somehow keeps track and calculates how many hours to delay the start time to have it start charging at the same time every day. So, in a way, the i-MiEV IS using some sort of pseudo timed remote setting. I like this!
On Monday when I got home from work, I plugged in my i-MiEV around 5:30pm and set the remoter time to begin charging in six hours, which would make it start at roughly 11:30pm well after the electric rates drop. I remember reading in the manual when I first got my car that the remote should retain the delayed hours settings for subsequent timer-controlled charge sessions. Meaning, each night after the first night, if you just press the up/down button once, the remote should automatically default to whatever delay you used last. In my case, I assumed that on Tuesday night, it should default to a 6-hour delay since that's what I had used on Monday night.
Well, on Tuesday night, I got home a little later than I had on Monday night, I plugged in my MiEV and powered on the remote. I hit the up button once and it displayed a delayed start time of 5.5 hours. I thought that was odd since I assumed it should have defaulted back to a 6-hour delay since that is what I had used Monday night. Well, 5.5 hours put me well past 10pm when the rates dropped. So, I didn't think anything more of it and just kept the 5.5 hour delayed start.
Last night when I got home, plugged in, and turned on the remote, the default setting was 4.5 hours. Odd that it had yet ANOTHER different delay time, but still put me past the 10pm rate drop. Set it and forget it!
Well, tonight, I got home much later than any of the previous nights; 8pm to be exact. When I plugged in and powered on the timer, the default delayed start time was 3.5 hours. I started getting upset as this is SOOOOOO not how the manual says the remote timer should retain the last timer setting. How the hell am I supposed to rely on this thing if it keeps changing all the time??? Well, a quick calculation in my head told me the 3.5 hours put me past the 10pm rate drop again. So, I just hit the "program" button again and headed into my house.
THAT'S when it hit me! Wait a minute. I got home and plugged in my Meepster at 8pm tonight and the remote timer had defaulted to 3.5 hours. That put the start time at roughly 11:30pm. I thought back to the previous nights and did some more calculations. Wednesday night, I had gotten home and plugged in at 7pm and the remote defaulted to 4.5 hours. Again, a start time of about 11:30pm. Tuesday I had plugged in at 6pm with a default delay of 5.5 hours. 11:30pm again! Monday night when all this had started, I had plugged in at 5:30pm and set a delay of 6 hours... 11:30pm!
So, it appears that as long as you use the remote timer every day and always use whatever default delayed start setting that pops up, the remote somehow keeps track and calculates how many hours to delay the start time to have it start charging at the same time every day. So, in a way, the i-MiEV IS using some sort of pseudo timed remote setting. I like this!
Oh, well, don't I just feel sheepish now. I totally misread how the remote timer supposedly worked. You're right, it would be relatively useless if it worked the way I originally thought it worked. That would mean you'd have to plug in and invoke the delay at exactly the same time every day for the "default" setting to be useful. Although, I suppose that would work for people who are creatures of habit and DO get home and plug in at the exact same time every day. I'm happy to have "accidentally" discovered that the timer works the way I want it to work, which just happens to be the way it was designed to work!
