Posted on 07/26/2011 12:15:56 PM PDT by Red Badger
Toyota Motor Corp announced July 19, 2011, that it will equip the Prius with a function to provide electricity from its rechargeable battery to external equipment.
The function enables to power, for example, home electric appliances in the case of power outage. Toyota plans to release it as an option for the Prius in 2012. Its price has not been determined yet. The company intends to make the function available to other hybrid electric vehicles, too.
Toyota has already equipped the hybrid electric version of the Estima with a power supply function.
"(After the Tohoku Earthquake,) users in the afflicted areas told us that they charged their mobile phones by using the Estima during the long blackout and it helped them," Toyota President Akio Toyoda said.
Because of such responses from the users, Toyoda decided to equip other hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) with the function.
The maximum output of the power supply function is 1.5kW, and it can power almost all kinds of home appliances including TV, PC, rice cooker and dryer. When the SOC (state of charge) of the rechargeable battery is lowered due to power supply, the engine is automatically started to charge the battery. When the fuel tank is full, it is possible to continuously supply electricity at the maximum output for about two days.
Among hybrids, Prius is the best. Unless you need an SUV/truck for more room. The Prius gets excellent mileage and has plenty of power. However, the cost of replacing the batteries will eat up anything you save on gas. The technology just ain’t there yet.
You got a cigarette lighter that provides 120V, doofus?
My 2007 Dodge Nitro has a AC plug in the back seat center console area. I haven’t used it much except for to occasionally charge my phone.
My 1997 Escort will run the 5000 watt inverter at half its output (any more than that and the alternator can’t keep up) for 24 hours. it burns about 12 gallons of fuel in that time frame.
The main reason is the remote start will start and stop the engine as needed. So it works much like the prius system. however, I suspect the prius battery might be larger than the 2 I have in my car.
They are embarrassing to drive, but they really are good cars. My friend has one and if I could just get over the whacky liberal reputation of the car I would get one. I didn’t know the Prius had a “power” button that converts the car to internal combution only and gives it more power for acceleration.
Inverter (be sure to use the 20% off code!)
http://www.harborfreight.com/5000-watt-continuous-10000-watt-peak-power-inverter-96706.html
Jumper cables are out their from towing supply companies. I just happened to have a set from a tow truck that we scrapped out after it rolled over.
The only advantage the prius has over my setup is it’s ability to generate massive amounts of amperage to charge the battery. I have the largest alt I could find for my car.
And that would be this one.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/NEW-FORD-ESCORT-TRACER-HIGH-OUTPUT-ALTERNATOR-200-AMP-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem20b59f55a8QQitemZ140486071720QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories#ht_2888wt_1165
But with every other car, you either get a few hours until you run your 12-volt battery dead, or you get 8-12 hours because you run the car until you run out of gas.
The Prius can operate as a generator. It’s computers can turn the engine on and off as needed to charge the traction batteries, which then feed this power function. As it said, at 1.5 kw full load, it can run for about 48 hours before it runs out of gas.
It isn’t the most efficient generator — a generator would be the most efficient generator. But if you already own the car, it’s a free emergency generator that can power your home’s essential functions in a power failure situation.
My wife’s RAV4 has a 100 watt power outlet. Of what possible use is that ?
Is there any avaliable record yet that documents how many miles people have gone before having to change the batteries out? My understanding is they are guaranteed for 150k, and about 7 grand for new ones. Yah, I think even at 150,000 miles that 7k will eat up most if not all of the gas savings. However, maybe at 200 or 300k? Or, better yet, just sell the car at 149k...:)
I had one for a week when ford kicked me out of my van for a recall. It musta been broken because it had zip, zero, modda for power.
I got honked at trying to get on the highway.
Come to think of it. I honk AT THEM when they are trying to get on the highway.
So I dispute your claim that they have plenty of power. Unless you mean in the battery.
Top Gear reviewed the Honda CRz Hybrid. Starts around $21k, and looks pretty nice. Not much of a back seat though.
Laptop, cell phone, small cooler, Blender for Margaritas............what more do you need?.......................
Harden the car against an EMP attack, and just maybe....
On the other hand, I just read about Louis Zamperini’s POW hell and it gets my blood boiling about those damn Japs!!!! Probably worse than Nazis, just not as efficient at mass murder.
A girl I dated had one. I didn’t notice a conspicuous lack of highway pick-up, but I may not have been paying very close attention. I did make fun of her, though, and she told me I was free to walk if I liked.
Might just have to buy one now so I can stick it in the back of the F-350 when we go camping so we can run the porta-jacuzzi...
Exactly. And I'm not so sure it doesn't have at least our generator beat. Our generator is louder than heck, the Prius is quiet, and you can't run smaller generators continuously. You run it to charge things up and cool/heat things up, then you have to let it, and your ear drums, rest.
It's not the only reason to buy the car, but it's an awesome feature.
Excellent information. Thanks for the tips.
If your battery is standard 12 volt accessory, I doubt your numbers are correct — the battery would have to deliver more than 500 amps in order to drive an inverter at 5000 watts.
The biggest car battery I could find was around 62 amp-hours, which would run your system for about 10 minutes.
A car alternator can put out about 50 amps max at 14 volts; you could have a larger one, but not 500 amps. 50 amps at 14 volts is about 5 amps at 120 volts. This is about 700 watts.
IN order to get 500 amps out of a car battery, assuming the battery could do so for more than a few seconds, you would need wires big enough to handle 500 amps. The largest common rated wire is 0000 gauge, which is about 1/2 inch diameter wire. It can carry about 300-380 amps.
A set of heavy duty jumper cables, 4AWG, is advertised to carry 500 amps (clamp rating), but only for a short period of time. Typical write-up: “EXTREME HEAVY DUTY JUMPER CABLES FEATURES:liLength: extremely long at 20’ liGauge: very large at #4 gauge liConstruction: tangle free, color coded 100% rubber which remains flexible at temperatures even below zeroli500 Amp capacity liAll copper - multiple fine strands for greatest flexibilityliColor coded insulated handles liExtra-strong spring loaded parrot jaw clamps”
Long-term amp max for 4 gauge wire is about 60 amps.
A typical car lighter has a 10 amp or 20 amp fuse. That translates to a wattage of 120-240 watts. But you said you hooked directly to the battery.
The Prius pulls a lot more wattage from their battery, but that’s because the battery is hundreds of volts, cutting down the current.
If you have a 24-volt battery system, all the numbers above are cut in half — but it would still be hard to pull 5000 watts from any normal configuration, even with the 32-volt battery system.
$8,000 in taxpayer subsidies
Run around town charging your car batteries at taxpayer subsidized charging stations:
$254 million dollars to install charging stations - paid by taxpayers via Stimulus I monies
Go home and plug in so you can run your PC and other items off the free (to you) battery power:
Thousands of dollars worth of "Free to you" electric paid by taxpayer subsidies and Stimulus I monies
Use your battery powered PC to post on D.U., dailykos and Huffington about all the penny-pinching, crazy right wingers who want to cut federal spending and balance the budget:
PRICELESS!
Remember when Americans were inventive and practical?
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