Wired Magazine Prius Hack to act as Generator

Check out:

http://www.priups.com/

 

I'm not quite sure how this would work? Seems to me the Voltage and the frequency would both be wrong and there would be no control. Where on the car would you make the connection? I don't think it's feasible. Much easier and more cost effective to buy a Honda generator.

EDIT: OK I see from Mel's link they are going to use DC directly from the battery. Of course as they point out the stuff in your house runs on AC, a few things like the toaster or the incandescent light bulbs would work on 120 Volts DC but this is going to be over 200 Volts. So you still need to convert it to AC and then run it through a transformer. As I said cheaper and safer to buy a Honda generator.

 

Once the Prius goes plug-in....will using it as a generator become easier?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Godiva @ Jul 22 2006, 12:58 PM) [snapback]290600[/snapback]</div>

I really don't know the answer, I guess no one will until we see the car. I suspect not however, they would provide a plug that went to an electrical outlet and you could put power into it to charge the car but it wouldn't be designed to work the other way. Toyota could design something that would work but they won't because they're in the car business not the emergency generator business. I do remember hearing somewhere that GM was selling a pseudo-hybrid pickup truck that you plug tools (like drills or saws) into. I doubt it would provide enough power to do much in your house though. I also believe it would be quite inefficient from a KWh/fuel standpoint. You would have a large ICE turning a small generator.

 

Toyota has and is testing the Prius as an emergency generator. It is rumored that there are a number of them being tested in the US. The Prius would be a 3.1KW generator and that is 3 times the one I have at my house and I spent too much on that. It sure is nice to have lights in the storm!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hdrygas @ Jul 23 2006, 08:58 AM) [snapback]290697[/snapback]</div>

And perhaps one day hybrid owners could also 'pump' electricity back into the grid and have them pay us for it.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Gerald @ Jul 22 2006, 08:04 PM) [snapback]290751[/snapback]</div>

Oh, you mean like when energy prices drop and your local utility company cuts their rates? :mellow:

 

We keep a simple backup power system in our hall closet:

XPower Powerpack 1500 is a portable power system that can supply up to 1500 watts of household electricity – enough to run almost any electronic product or appliance you might connect to your wall outlet at home. XPower Powerpack 1500 consists of a battery pack that stores electrical energy, state-of-the-art electronics that convert 12 volts from the battery pack to household power, an AC power panel that contains two standard outlets, and a DC power panel that is used to run 12 volt products. These components are packaged into a rugged “cart†with a removable waist handle that allows XPower Powerpack 1500 to be wheeled from room-to-room or outdoors over rough terrain.

XPower Powerpack 1500 is an excellent alternative to a generator – no noise, no fumes, no fuel, and no moving parts. With the accessories provided, recharge XPower Powerpack 1500 using utility power from your wall outlet, from your vehicle, or from a solar panel.

So far we've only needed it for a few hours to run a laptop computer and provide some low watt lighting at night, but if power should be out long enough to drain the battery, I plan to recharge it through the dc connector to the car

The unit was about $250 last year.

More information:
http://www.4lots.com/xpower/xpower_1500/xp...d_Unpacking.htm
http://www.crn.com/sections/testcenter/pro...D=11&Prod=31514
http://www.invertershop.com/xantrex/xpower...rating_time.htm