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Most decent way to run your 115V essentials out of Prius Prime

Discussion in 'Prime Technical Discussion' started by Krzysiek_KTA, Jun 7, 2020.

  1. Krzysiek_KTA

    Krzysiek_KTA Active Member

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    Here we go...

    The inverter:



    Simple stable and capable to run all 115 V setup up to 1000 W - In my case it included: french door LG 24 cf fridge, separate 100 W rated chest freezer and multi monitor desktop workstation of 100 W+ or so...

    I am still testing the Prime capability to support that, but it looks like 12-14 hrs of less than 1 kW load won't deplete the traction battery... I haven't gone beyond that to see if the ICE kicks in when all of traction an hybrid battery is depleted though...
    So far I tried to run this setup for 8 hrs and the range indicator shoved half of initial 30 miles or so...
    TBC

    K
     
    #1 Krzysiek_KTA, Jun 7, 2020
    Last edited: Jun 7, 2020
  2. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

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    You are connecting this inverter to the 12v battery and keeping the car in READY?
     
  3. Krzysiek_KTA

    Krzysiek_KTA Active Member

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    YES,
    just had to get out via passenger door after putting the car in "N" to evade beeping....
    and stay in READY for infinite period (until the all batteries are dead I assume...)
    K
     
  4. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

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    Why "N"? What happens if you keep it in P?
     
  5. Krzysiek_KTA

    Krzysiek_KTA Active Member

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    I am not quite sure how long the car will stay in READY while in "P" mode. The "N" worked for me endlessly..... I might be wrong, but I noticed that Prime switch the car off after in 30+ min or so when left in "P" mode
     
  6. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

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    Humm, I've never tried it myself, but I thought you can keep the car in READY indefinitely (until traction battery and gas runs out, that is) with the shit on Park. The power-saving feature is on ACC or ON mode. The car shut itself off after 20min.
     
  7. Krzysiek_KTA

    Krzysiek_KTA Active Member

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    Well.... Let me try it.
    I assumed hat in "P" traction battery won't charge 12V battery as it happens in other EVs or so...(like my Bolt EV).
    Thanks for ideas.

    Cheers!

    K
     
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  8. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

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    That I know for sure that traction battery does charge the 12v battery when in P. I have been in a shelter in place for a few months now. I am not driving my car often enough, so I have a 12v battery monitor installed in my car now. I have tried putting the car in READY and PARK for 10-20min, it did charge up the 12v battery.
     
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  9. Krzysiek_KTA

    Krzysiek_KTA Active Member

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    That's good news! Let me try how it works for my "Power home" setup running 12+ hours... I hope no more jumping to passenger seat to exit. Thanks!
     
    #9 Krzysiek_KTA, Jun 7, 2020
    Last edited: Jun 7, 2020
  10. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

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    If you keep the car in PARK and READY, and open the driver's side door, then the car will beep. But IIRC, it peeps only while the door is open, once you close the door, it will stop.
     
  11. Krzysiek_KTA

    Krzysiek_KTA Active Member

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    UPDATE. Indeed it works like that. Let me test if the car will stay on-charging 12V battery overnight. Thanks again!
     
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  12. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    In "N", won't it run only until the traction battery goes flat? Leave it in "P", and it should keep on going until the gas tank is empty too. Or longer still if you have a supply of spare gasoline.
     
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  13. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

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    If that is the case, OP would be in trouble. A Prime with a dead 12v battery and traction battery... but with full gas. Hummm, I don't want to try experimenting this on my own car.
     
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  14. jerrymildred

    jerrymildred Senior Member

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    I'm glad @fuzzy1 mentioned that. He beat me to it. In Neutral, the car does not charge the traction battery. So, the engine may start in N when the battery's EV range hits zero, but it will stay at zero. At that point, I THINK you'll quickly kill the 12V battery since there won't be anything going to it from the inverter. Or, worst case would be continuing to drain the traction battery and ruining your whole day.

    As I understand it, Gen 2 was the last that didn't protect you from driving EV when out of gas till the traction battery dies, but this is a different case and I'm not sure what would happen.
     
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  15. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

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    OK, that's what I was trying to recollect. Something about "N" being special in relation to battery charging that I could not remember. Yap, that situation when you put the car in "N" during the car wash and blasting A/C and radio... at the end of the tunnel, car is dead.
     
    #15 Salamander_King, Jun 8, 2020
    Last edited: Jun 8, 2020
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  16. Krzysiek_KTA

    Krzysiek_KTA Active Member

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    Just tested running inverter from 12V battery and car in "P" - it works, but for 30-40 min only the car shuts itself down.
    The only way to keep the car in "READY" for longer is to have it in "N" mode.
    Unfortunately the FOB need to stay inside and you have to exit the car through passenger door.
     
  17. Krzysiek_KTA

    Krzysiek_KTA Active Member

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    I am a bit confused about the statement that 12V battery is not being charged in "N" mode. My prime does it all the time as long as there is some juice left in traction battery.
    If the traction battery is flat, then indeed there is chance to drain the 12V and brick the car...
    just my 5 cents.

    I found out that Prime can be nice backup power source for basic household needs (up to 1000W) for prolonged periods of time. Every time the Traction battery is drained just drive out from garage run prime in "Charge" mode and after 20 min the Traction battery will be 80% full with enough juice to run inverter through 12V battery again.
    20 min breaks won't harm the contents of the fridge and freezer. :)

    Just to share, since hurricane season is in...
     
    #17 Krzysiek_KTA, Jun 8, 2020
    Last edited: Jun 8, 2020
  18. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

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    No, its not the 12v battery. The car does not charge the traction battery with the shift on "N" even if the gas engine is running. In "N" all the electrical connections from the engine to regenerative motors are un-linked. So, when you run out of the traction battery charge, the car will not be able to use the gas engine to charge the traction battery. If this happens, you will have a dead 12v battery, and possibly a dead traction battery which will cost you thousands of dollars to fix.

    As for your comment on not being able to keep PRIME in P and READY longer than 30min, that is something new I have never heard of, or I must have missed reading about that feature in the manual. IIRC, all of previous generations of non-plugin PRIUS were able to keep the car in P and READY to keep running A/C for camping. I assumed the PRIME would behaves the same way. But as I said, I have never tried it myself, so your observation proves my assumption wrong.
     
    #18 Salamander_King, Jun 8, 2020
    Last edited: Jun 8, 2020
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  19. PiPLosAngeles

    PiPLosAngeles Senior Member

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    Does this mean the car won't run in EV with an empty tank of gas? If so, I think Toyota and I have different definitions of the word "protect."
     
    #19 PiPLosAngeles, Jun 8, 2020
    Last edited: Jun 8, 2020
  20. jerrymildred

    jerrymildred Senior Member

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    I have not run a car out of gas since the oil crisis in the 70's, so I can't speak from personal experience. EV in a Prime is very different from EV in the regular Prius. The Prime "SHOULD" run in EV mode with an empty tank until the EV range is gone. Then it "SHOULD" coast to a stop after maybe another mile or two. You're welcome to experiment with that. I'm not going near it.
     
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