Using PIP As A Generator

There are two different systems mentioned in the article linked by the OP, and you seem to be either applying statements for the Prius (non-Plug-in) system or from various posters' home-made inverter systems to the Prius Plug-in system.

First, the Prius Plug-in system connects to the charging port, which is not 12V DC. Second, there is no reason to assume the Prius Plug-in ICE is generating 1500 watts. The ICE can generate up to 73kW and store up to 2.8 kWh of that in the traction battery, so it would turn on, run quietly for a little bit, then turn off instead of idling inefficiently. It's unclear how much AC power can actually supplied as I couldn't find any articles with that specification, but one article reports powering an entire smart home, so it can supply more than just emergency power.
Toyota Prius' New Function Supplies Electricity to Home Appliances -- Tech-On!
Toyota vehicle-to-home technology turns Prius Plug-in into an emergency generator

It is tapping into the traction battery, so by your own declaration, it is not meaningless.

 

I'm curious, what's the amp. output of the alternator (generator?) charging the 12 volt battery?

 

This are great news, it make me wonder what can I do to have such a similar Emergency power service

 

OK, so now we are tapping the traction battery; maybe this is partly my fault as I was commenting on the folks hooking inverters up to their 12 volt systems. This is why I saw no efficiency gain from doing this. Yes, if you are going to actually tap the traction battery and MG2 the Prius would be very efficient as a generator; yet I still see no real benefit from doing all this, over just buying a generator, but to each their own. I saw some $1,800.00 figure bandied about as the cost of the cable to connect to the port on the PiP not including the cost of the parts you need to add to the home electrical system. My generator was less than a third of that number. I think I will stick to driving my Prius and using my generator for power failures, as this way I can do both at the same time.

Of course you could strip out all the unnecessary stuff, like the seats, the dash, the steering, and the wheels; then mount the DC to AC inverter in the cabin, and mount a high current 240 volt socket into one of the body panels and add cooling fans for the engine and the inverter because it’s not moving. Then you could mount it to a flat bed truck to make it easily portable, so you could take it anywhere you need 50 KW of power.

 

The 12V is supplied by a portion of the HV and controlled to about 14.3V, there is no alternator or generator. Electronic equipment is not measured in ampere output, there is no such thing. Current flows or is drawn thru or across a load ( resistance ) the combined Force(voltage X current) = watts. In a Lab or shop current generators are thought to have a output, but they are specifically designed to have a variable output in milliamperes , or amperes. Used for testing.

 

back to the subject, the Pip charging block says 12 Amps, that is the safe current draw recommended. Should you find a outlet that is 140 or 150 Volts, this could cause the EVSE TO OVERHEAT, because it is drawIng more current than recommended. Low voltage would not be a problem, it would just take longer to charge.

 

Electronic equipment is not measured in ampere output, there is no such thing.

THEN EXPLAIN THIS:

GM Chrome 120 Amp 1 One or 3 Three Wire SBC BBC Chevy Alternator ES 1001 C | eBay

 

To put an end to this controversy. The people who have successfully used the Prius and a inverter as a temporary or emergency source were elated with its operation. If the system were, loud, smelly,dangerous, costly then they would not be happy.

 

I was just yanking your chain with the original post about bathing and granola, but you took it so seriously complaining about my energy budget, that I assumed you didn’t bathe to keep your energy budget so low. Well I’m sorry that I don’t fit into your idea of a properly small energy budget. I am happy to admit that I love technology, electricity, indoor plumbing, refrigeration, and air-conditioning. I don’t want to return to living in caves. I once worked with a guy who showered 4 times a year, whether he needed it or not. It was the most disgusting thing I have ever experienced. If you enjoy personal hygiene too, then I apologize.

 

The point is, all of our life situations are different. For example, our house is in a 1930s close-in suburb of a major city where running a generator on a plot of land 25 feet wide and 100 feet deep would be "uncool" to everyone including me had I had one. I observe that for those of us with city water (gravity feed) and with city gas, and in my situation with installed solar panels & a sizable DC-to-AC inverter, a PiP supplies the missing major component of a system, and the puzzle now lies not in buying extra major components, but rather (key point) in innovatively adapting the major components already here into a life system for major yet not overly long emergencies, i.e. a blizzard, a thunderstorm, a "derecho" like the one we had here in Virginia four months ago, etc.
This will not fit everyone's life circumstances, but it seems to me it would fit a potentially large market around US cities, where most Plug-in Prii are likely to live because that's where they would be most useful in everyday life.

Again, the point is to create a super-system of existing well-designed systems which are, in my case at least, already bought.

Now, referring to sleep periods, I'd much rather sleep across the wall from an intermittently idling, well-muffled Prius than across the wall from a running generator. Just my preference, chacun a son gout

 

The only, usual method of supplying additional power to adequately charge battery's , is to design for current flow! This is because of standard 12V systems, that is the limiting factor to Power. There are also 24 and 48 Volt systems. 120 Amps is stating that when the system is operating according to design it CAN draw up to 120 Amps.

 

the PIP's aux battery charging is max. 5 amps, that's what I wanted to know

 

5 amps is probably not enough to sustain anything larger than 1500 watts from an inverter, that's all

 

^^^
Anyone know what the maximum output of the DC to DC converter is? That's what's the replacement for an alternator in a Prius.

There are other loads on the 12 volt bus like the lights, fans (HVAC, radiator, battery), instruments, etc. I suspect the DC to DC converter can output a lot more than 5 amps at ~13 to 14 volts. That 5 amps I'd imagine is listed because of the slow/low allowable charge rate of the AGM 12 volt battery.

 

There's quite a bit of confusion here. There are also two diff solutions.
Solution 1 is a plug that goes into the charge port. It's sold by Toyota Japan for about $1k. It obviously takes the electrons from the traction battery.
Solution 2 is an inverter that connects to your 12 V battery. When the pip is in READY mode, the 12 V battery charge is maintained by the traction battery, so this is effectively just as good. When the traction battery has been fully depleted, the gas engine will kick in occasionally (depending on load) to maintain the 12 V battery's state of charge. The cost of this solution is $70 for a 1100 W inverter and $120 for a 1500 W inverter.
Solution 2 was used by El Dobro in NJ just days ago during his Sandy blackout.

 

I see your point, to a point, but I still see what appears to me to be a major issue. If your Prius is going to intermittently run, then it has to be in the on state; what is to stop someone from coming up and driving your Prius away? I also think there is a way of pacifying your neighbors to the noise of a generator, and that is to offer them some of your power. Also I have read articles on adding sound deadening to portable generators, and it is quite doable. I intend on building mine a permanent home and adding some noise reduction in the next year or so. I do agree it is up to the individual, and more power to you, if you can make it work. Pardon the pun.

 

It is max 120A at 14V, max 1680W.

Ken@Japan

 

See my earlier posts and the posts of others; using the 12volt system is not just as good as tapping the traction battery. You are limited to 1,500 watts, because that is all the 12 volt system can handle, and there is danger of damage to the DC to DC converter from the traction battery, if you overload it; plus the fact that using the 12 volt system makes it very inefficient. Again if 1,500 watts is good enough for you, then fine, but I find it an insufficient amount of power. Lastly, the car has to be on to recharge the traction battery, and must be outside to keep dangerous exhaust from entering your home, so what is to stop someone from driving your Prius away?

 

I guess it will surprise you to know that Europeans with generally higher standards of living than North Americans, use about half as much energy. They aren't even living in caves. I call that bit about caves "the squawk of the North American Entitled Bird". The truth is most of us WASTE 50% of the energy we use. Power to appliances that are off; leaky under-insulated houses; huge empty monster vehicles; Incandescent lights on in empty rooms, empty buildings, empty streets and parking lots. We get no enjoyment out of it at all.