Toyota Prius Plug-in EV Charging Cable

Read this before you choose, because the connector changed

This is the one page on the site where the year of your car decides which cable you buy, not just how long it is. The 2012 to 2016 Prius Plug-in uses the Type 1 connector. From the 2017 model onward Toyota moved to Type 2, and the 2023 fifth generation car kept it.

Toyota UK confirms the change in its own 2017 launch material, describing charging in two hours "using Type II Mode III Mennekes connector". For the earlier car, Toyota Europe explains that the supplied cable was developed for compatibility with the Mennekes charging station while the car end stayed Type 1. Owners state it plainly on the forums: the 2012 to 2016 car has only a Type 1 contact.

No Prius Plug-in of any generation can rapid charge

Rapid chargers are irrelevant here, because there is no DC connector to plug them into. The Type 2 cable does all of the work, which is why a missing one on a used car is a bigger problem than most buyers expect.

That covers all three UK generations. And yet Toyota UK own September 2024 brochure prints a specification row reading "Battery Charging Time (mins) DC Charger 240" on a car with no DC socket at all. Two hundred and forty minutes is simply the four hour AC figure restated in minutes. It is a template artefact, and it is almost certainly where the online claims about rapid charging a fifth generation Prius come from.

The same brochure contradicts itself on charge time

Body copy on its charging page says a dedicated cable and wall box return a full charge in around two and a half hours. The specification table on the same document says four hours. Thirteen point six kilowatt hours at 3.3 kW is 4.1 hours, so four is right and two and a half has been copied across from the C-HR or RAV4, which have 6.6 kW chargers.

Treat the printed specification table with a little care. These documents are built from a common framework across a whole model range, and rows migrate between cars that should not share them. Checking a charge time against capacity divided by power catches most of it. There is also a footnote about 150 kW chargers on arterial routes, which is boilerplate from Toyota electric car brochures and has no bearing on a car with no DC inlet.

A small charger, and a bigger battery did not change it

The 2012 car had about 2.2 kW. The 2017 car went to 3.3 kW, which Toyota described as maximum power increased. The 2023 car kept 3.3 kW despite a battery 55 per cent larger, which is why its charge time went up rather than down. Charging hardware of this vintage is small, and the number that matters is the car's, not the supply's. Fitting a 32 amp wall box changes nothing here because the car will not draw 32 amps. Plan around the car's ceiling rather than the charge point's.

How long a full charge takes

The calculation is the battery over the delivered kW, uplifted 13 per cent for charging losses, quarter hour rounded. The miles column uses 3.5 miles per kWh, which holds up in winter as well as summer. The battery figures are the 2017 and 2023 gross capacities; the 2012 car is 4.4 kWh with roughly a sixty per cent usable window.

Electric range went from about 15.5 miles NEDC in 2012, to over 30 miles claimed in 2017, to 44 or 47 miles WLTP combined on the current car with up to 53 in town.

Which length, and note the port moved

The 2012 to 2016 and 2017 to 2022 cars charge from the offside rear quarter. Toyota Europe describes the inlet as being in the opposite rear wing to the fuel filler, and a UK owner comparing notes with a Swedish one confirms both cars have it on the same physical side. The 2023 on fifth generation moved it to the nearside rear.

On a 4.6 metre car with a rear socket, ten metres is the default and five works where you reverse in close. Measure from the charge point to the inlet as the car actually parks, then add two metres of slack.

How these cables are built

Made to IEC 62196-2, CE marked, and rated IP55 from -30C to +50C so it lives outdoors all year.

The three pin unit is IEC 62752 compliant, CE marked, IP67 against water and rated -30C to +60C. The manufacturer warrants it for two years, delivery in the UK is free and next working day, and returns run to 30 days.

Related: Toyota bZ4X EV Charging Cable, and Toyota charging cables for every other model we cover. For a wall box or public post the lead is the Type 1 to Type 2 charging cable.

Toyota Prius Plug-in charging cable questions

Is the Prius Plug-in Type 1 or Type 2?

Both, depending on year. The 2012 to 2016 car is Type 1. From 2017 onward it is Type 2. Choose the cable type to match your car.

Can any Prius Plug-in rapid charge?

No. None of the three UK generations has a DC inlet, despite a DC charging time appearing in Toyota own 2024 brochure.

How long does the current car take to charge?

About four hours from empty at 3.3 kW. The two and a half hour figure in Toyota brochure body copy is wrong; its own specification table says four.

Where is the charge socket?

Offside rear quarter on cars to 2022. The 2023 on fifth generation moved it to the nearside rear.