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1500W 120V AC outlet

Discussion in 'Gen 5 Prius Main Forum' started by Hipparchus, Mar 22, 2024.

  1. JimLudden

    JimLudden Junior Member

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    My '24 Prius Prime SE has (2) 120 Volt 1500 Watt outlets. One of these is plenty to run your fridge.
    I installed a manual transfer switch so that I can run parts of my house (including the fridge) from the car battery -- but have not had a power outage to test it yet.

    There is also a third party inverter that runs off the traction battery (250-300 Volts) capable of providing up to 4.8 kWatts. See HOME | PlugOut Power, Generator for hybrid vehicles | United States. As far as I know this has not yet been tested in a 5th generation (>2023) Prius Prime, but this model appears in their "supported vehicle list".
     
  2. Hammersmith

    Hammersmith Senior Member

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    You probably know this, but just in case, be aware that the two 120V outlets can handle 1500W combined, not 1500W each.
     
  3. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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  4. dbstoo

    dbstoo Senior Member

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    That's always the most important wording to watch out for on a power supply system. 1500 Watts COMBINED tells you that a single inverter is tied to two outlets in a parallel connection. You can tie the inverter in the trunk to a camping refrigerator that draws 300 watts while the outlet behind the driver's arm rest is running a 600 watt table saw. Between them, only 900 watts is being sucked out of the 120V inverter. You'd still have 600 watts available to run up to 6 100 watt light bulbs if they were attached to a 6 outlet power strip.
     
  5. Blizzard_Persona

    Blizzard_Persona Senior Member

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    I have ran my garage stand up deep freeze (mid size freezer) without issues from my Prime XSE hatch plug during our last big power outage for a few hrs. I never took note of how much battery it actually used from the vehicle because a neighbor eventually lent me a real generator and I was busy with setting that up.

    I should have tried running my interior house fridge as well as my garage freezer at the same time, via the second plug and seeing if that worked or would’ve been too much for the inverter. I wonder what happens when you go over the wattage limit, is there a reset button like on a breaker panel somewhere or do you just pop a fuse?
     
  6. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    My RAV4 Prime has only a single socket, but I won't hesitate to use a power strip to break that out into multiple outlets. The combined running powers of my garage freezer and kitchen refrigerator are well below the 1500W inverter rating. The only issue I'd foresee is possibly the compressor start-up currents if both appliances start at the same time. This can be addressed by manually plugging in the second appliance after the first is already running.

    Older appliances from the less efficient era might be a greater issue.

    I don't yet know either.
     
  7. Zeromus

    Zeromus Member

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    Keep in mind that the running watts and amps are different from the surge power ratings. When the compressor first turns on, it will draw more power to get going iirc for fridges and freezers.
     
  8. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    ... which is the exact reason for this passage:
     
  9. GoodOldBob

    GoodOldBob Junior Member

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    And Air conditioners and any appliance that uses an electric motor (washing machine, vacuum cleaner, Power tools, etc.)....all have a starting surge requirement.
     
    fuzzy1 likes this.
  10. Hipparchus

    Hipparchus New Member

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    Thanks for that information. As I understand it, if you set the car up properly, the engine should keep the battery charged until it runs out of gas (please correct me if I am misinformed). I think this answers my second question. It seems that the answer to my first question is: All Prius Primes. But I hesitate to order one because the Toyota website does not say that the 1500W inverter is even an option. If the car I ordered came in months later without the inverter, they could say "We did not promise you an inverter.". Would I be able to get my deposit back and walk away? Also, the headlights are only rated "acceptable" by the IIHS and it looks like the high beams are weak. The Rav4 Prime headlights get the highest rating and the inverter is standard but I like the efficiency of the Prius. And the '25 Ioniq 5 fixes many of the deficiencies of the current model and it has an 1800W inverter. Decisions, decisions, decisions....
     
  11. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    Inverter 'standard' on the RAV4 Prime? During my shopping over the winter (and acquired two months ago), I found the inverter listed only in an option package in the top trim. If it was showing up outside that package or on the lower trim, that is news to me. With no open models sitting on dealer lots -- all units here are still spoken for before arriving at the lot -- it was not possible to personally check this in my region.

    My RAV4 Prime headlights are by far the best I've ever experienced, but I'm comparing it to a 2012 Prius and a 2014 Subaru, not to any current model of any brand.