Prius: It’s Not Just a Car, It’s an Emergency Generator
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Prius: It’s Not Just a Car, It’s an Emergency Generator
Bon
Allscion -- an e-commerce website with news and accessories for your Scions
http://www.allscion.com/store
http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/20...-generator/?em
The abovementioned youtube clip is at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pchimqJPxKE
Allscion -- an e-commerce website with news and accessories for your Scions
http://www.allscion.com/store
http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/20...-generator/?em
John Sweeney, a resident who lost power, “ran his refrigerator, freezer, TV, woodstove fan and several lights through his Prius, for three days, on roughly five gallons of gas.”
Said Mr. Sweeney, in an e-mail message to The Press: “When it looked like we were going to be without power for awhile, I dug out an inverter (which takes 12v DC and creates 120v AC from it) and wired it into our Prius.” ...
.... Even President-elect Barack Obama has endorsed this idea, as seen toward the end of this YouTube clip in which he said: “We’re going to have to have a smart grid if we want to use plug-in hybrids — then we want to be able to have ordinary consumers sell back the electricity that’s generated.”
Said Mr. Sweeney, in an e-mail message to The Press: “When it looked like we were going to be without power for awhile, I dug out an inverter (which takes 12v DC and creates 120v AC from it) and wired it into our Prius.” ...
.... Even President-elect Barack Obama has endorsed this idea, as seen toward the end of this YouTube clip in which he said: “We’re going to have to have a smart grid if we want to use plug-in hybrids — then we want to be able to have ordinary consumers sell back the electricity that’s generated.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pchimqJPxKE
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You can do this in pretty much ANY car. The power inverter is not a marvelous invention designed just for the prius. I believe the Toyota Tacoma gives you the option to actually have one built into the bed.
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Originally Posted by highvoltage1
Yea you can do it with many cars. I think the fact that its a hybrid and it lasted so long prolly cause of the battery chargign system that makes it more efficient though.
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Uh-oh! Since I do not have a Prius, I could not have done this.
On the other hand, I would have had the brain activity to actually GET IN THE CAR AND DRIVE IT SOMEWHERE, preferably to a place where the lights and heat do work!
I guess it's a trade-off.
On the other hand, I would have had the brain activity to actually GET IN THE CAR AND DRIVE IT SOMEWHERE, preferably to a place where the lights and heat do work!
I guess it's a trade-off.
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Well there a few things that we need to take into account. I may be wrong with my information so somepne please correct me if I'm wrong, but the Prius generates a lot of electricity, I'm talking Amp's/Watts not Volts, Which made it easier to run the appliances. Yes, The Tacoma does have a power outlet built into the bed, but it only works for so long, and can handle only so much of a load, till you strain the battery/alternator.
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you guys really don't see the significance of this? sure you can put an inverter in any car that has a cigarette lighter. but the true amazing part of this is that he ran some extremely heavy duty and power consuming appliances and for 3 days and it only took 5 gallons of gas! the tacoma just running at idle will prolly burn 5 gallons of gas in 1 day. thats why i say toyota/scion ftw!!
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Theres nothing special here. As far as I know, the Prius has two electrical systems. One is a conventional 12V system for running the car's regular electrical system. The other is a high voltage (something like 300V+ from what I recall) that drives the traction motors and all that other good hybrid stuff.
The system in question is the 12V system, which is isolated from the HV system. The guy hooked up an inverter to the 12V side of his prius, as the HV side would just fry the inverter. Every half an hour, the engine was run to keep the tiny little conventional starting battery from deep-discharge, which would ruin it. If the Prius had a deep cycle battery, like an Optima Yellow Top, then the frequent restarts wouldn't have been necessary.
An example of my experience:
I've got the biggest Yellow Top Optima makes under the passenger seat in my xB2. Two days ago, I just finished crimping ring terminals onto some 4gauge wires my friend gave me. Coincidentally, two nights ago we had an extended power outage. (12 hours or so) I ran out to my car, hooked my 700W inverter up to my deep cycle Optima, and ran an extension cord into the house. Instant power. With the yellow top, I could run until the inverter shut off at ~10.8V, and charge it back up with no ill effects, as it was designed to do. With the few lights I was running, I could have run the inverter for a very long time, with no need to start my engine at all.
Any car can serve as a "emergency generator", but to do it efficiently, you need to be properly equipped. This isn't new technology, RV campers have been doing this for awhile.
The system in question is the 12V system, which is isolated from the HV system. The guy hooked up an inverter to the 12V side of his prius, as the HV side would just fry the inverter. Every half an hour, the engine was run to keep the tiny little conventional starting battery from deep-discharge, which would ruin it. If the Prius had a deep cycle battery, like an Optima Yellow Top, then the frequent restarts wouldn't have been necessary.
An example of my experience:
I've got the biggest Yellow Top Optima makes under the passenger seat in my xB2. Two days ago, I just finished crimping ring terminals onto some 4gauge wires my friend gave me. Coincidentally, two nights ago we had an extended power outage. (12 hours or so) I ran out to my car, hooked my 700W inverter up to my deep cycle Optima, and ran an extension cord into the house. Instant power. With the yellow top, I could run until the inverter shut off at ~10.8V, and charge it back up with no ill effects, as it was designed to do. With the few lights I was running, I could have run the inverter for a very long time, with no need to start my engine at all.
Any car can serve as a "emergency generator", but to do it efficiently, you need to be properly equipped. This isn't new technology, RV campers have been doing this for awhile.
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Originally Posted by homerhitta
you guys really don't see the significance of this? sure you can put an inverter in any car that has a cigarette lighter. but the true amazing part of this is that he ran some extremely heavy duty and power consuming appliances and for 3 days and it only took 5 gallons of gas! the tacoma just running at idle will prolly burn 5 gallons of gas in 1 day. thats why i say toyota/scion ftw!!
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Nothing to see folks, keep on moving......
He just hooked an inverter which you can buy almost anywhere and plugged it in. Then ran an extension cord from that to the appliances he ran. It does not say he had everything plugged in at once in a multiplug outlet or rotated loads every few hours. The prius did not run for 3 days, it ran every half hour for a few minutes by itself to top off the battery.
The prius can be used as an ups, but its 240 volts see this link http://www.wikihow.com/Use-a-Toyota-...ckup-Generator
I dont know about the tc, but my xa burns .12 gallons per hour at idle. 10 hours is like 1.2 gallons. I am sure I could of done the same withut starting and turning off my car. My xa had a 1.5l engine, so does the prius, except its a more efficient design, but makes less power
Yes, the taco, matrix and a few other manufactures and models have a built in inverter. Just make sure the one you buy is large enough to handle the start up load or it wont work. If its not large enough for the continious load it will over heat and cut out too. Second, most also cut out before the battery dies, so you can refire and recharge the battery. I am sure it would be easy to hack a remote start system or push button start to refire when battery voltage falls below a certain value.
As for emergency power, I used my wheelchair batteries and various 12 volt cig plug accessories like a tv and light when the power failed when I live with my parents. We watched tv for 2 weeks til both died and used a keroscene stove for heat and cooking. It burned a gallon every 12 hours and we had 2 drums of keroscene.
They still have a jump starter thing to use for back up power and to jump their car and I have a ups with an old wheelchair battery for back up power.
Obama is right, we need to upgrade our electrical grid and make it more efficient to give and take to our energy needs. So a home owner can plug in solar panels and get paid for what they contribute at a fair rate and vice versa. Right now that varies with the local utility company and building codes. See www.homepower.com for more info.
He just hooked an inverter which you can buy almost anywhere and plugged it in. Then ran an extension cord from that to the appliances he ran. It does not say he had everything plugged in at once in a multiplug outlet or rotated loads every few hours. The prius did not run for 3 days, it ran every half hour for a few minutes by itself to top off the battery.
The prius can be used as an ups, but its 240 volts see this link http://www.wikihow.com/Use-a-Toyota-...ckup-Generator
I dont know about the tc, but my xa burns .12 gallons per hour at idle. 10 hours is like 1.2 gallons. I am sure I could of done the same withut starting and turning off my car. My xa had a 1.5l engine, so does the prius, except its a more efficient design, but makes less power
Yes, the taco, matrix and a few other manufactures and models have a built in inverter. Just make sure the one you buy is large enough to handle the start up load or it wont work. If its not large enough for the continious load it will over heat and cut out too. Second, most also cut out before the battery dies, so you can refire and recharge the battery. I am sure it would be easy to hack a remote start system or push button start to refire when battery voltage falls below a certain value.
As for emergency power, I used my wheelchair batteries and various 12 volt cig plug accessories like a tv and light when the power failed when I live with my parents. We watched tv for 2 weeks til both died and used a keroscene stove for heat and cooking. It burned a gallon every 12 hours and we had 2 drums of keroscene.
They still have a jump starter thing to use for back up power and to jump their car and I have a ups with an old wheelchair battery for back up power.
Obama is right, we need to upgrade our electrical grid and make it more efficient to give and take to our energy needs. So a home owner can plug in solar panels and get paid for what they contribute at a fair rate and vice versa. Right now that varies with the local utility company and building codes. See www.homepower.com for more info.
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I am surprised that worked because the 12 volt battery in the right rear of the Prius is pretty small - about 10amp hours I think. Maybe the traction battery circuit charges the 12 volt system with a DC to DC converter then the traction battery got recharged every half hour by the motor when it ran down. This would make more sense since it would save having an alternator on the motor for the 12 volt system. BTW the 12 volt battery can't be charged too quickly either and is really there to operate the interior lights and ignition circuit. Run it down and see how much fun it is to get it going again . . . you can't even open the trunk to get to it without 12 volt power or work the remote hatch release . . . you have to jump the 12 volt system from the fuse panel jumper connection under the hood.
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