Prius Prime plug-out, backup power supply for house

Buy this instead...

These are always on sale at ~$450 and it will do a much better job at what you want with No Possibility of hurting your prime.

www.harborfreight.com/2000-watt-super-quiet-inverter-generator-62523.html



Rob43

 

I'm planning on wiring an inverter to the 12V system, but the DC-DC converter has a limit of about 100A, so I'll limit my usage to around 80A to be safe. That's 960W, so it should be enough to run my furnace during a power outage or power some things while camping.

I think in Japan the DC fast charging port provides direct access to the battery. We don't get that here. Even if we did there aren't many high voltage DC to AC inverters available.

 

dead in the water

toyota is afraid of the american legal system as they should be

 

I have direct experience of running a home heating furnace when the power goes out...

Getting the igniter to light the furnace is easy peasy.

But good luck getting your 1/3, or 1/2 HP motor with its big heavy fan assembly to spin up before your inverter goes into fault mode.
Only the best inverters can do this, ($$$$) and I certainly would NOT want a 12v inverter, I'd want a 24v or 48v interter for this job. It can be done, but it will be expensive.


Rob43

 

A few years back, when I still had Gen3, I thought about using PRIUS as an emergency generator for the power outage. Our house relies on electrical power for both heating and water supply. We can do heating using a portable kerosene heater and wood burning stove, but no running water meant no toilet. Deep well pump's serge was too much for any of small inverter type generator, I ended up buying a dual fuel portable 7500W generator and had an electrician install whole house plug with a manual transfer switch in the main board.

I wanted an automatic back-up generator, but the cost was astronomical compared to what I had to pay for the portable generator with manual whole house set-up.

 

agreed, we just paid 8k for a 12kw kohler, installed

 

In Japan, instead of a typical EVSE, you can install a car to home power station that charges, and draws power from the car during emergencies. It does this through a CHAdeMO plug, so the majority of plug ins there can work as an emergency power supply. Even the Mirai has a CHAdeMO outlet in the trunk for supplying power. It was going to be an option in US models, but I think costs was a major drawback. Last time I looked a few years ago, the converted yen prices for the power stations was $8000 and higher.

Toyota does offer a low power inverter(?) that plugs into the J1772 of the Prime in Japan.

 

Is there any annual maintenance cost?

Our 7.5kw portable will run everything in our house except maybe baking turkey and running clothe dryer at the same time. LOL The total cost was less than $800 including the electrician cost, and no ongoing running cost other than fuel. Of course, there are certain hands-on set-up I have to do when I use it. But that happens only once every few years. Much more cost effective solution.

 

same as any power equipment, it's a 15 hp kohler engine, iirc. oil, filters and etc. you can diy, but like everything else, i have taken to the couch and let the pros handle it.

 

I think @Trollbait has the right answer for the reason US PRIME does not offer this option.

For $8000, you can have a 12kw Kohler stand-by automatic backup generator installed at your house, just like @bisco did.

For Japanese, having a stand-by generator is not easy in cramped housing. And with earthquake, tsunami, landslide and typhoon to contend year after year, there must be enough demands even at that high price tag.

 

@bwilson4web and others have installed inverters into Prii without reported issues. I don't think he has plans to do so with the Prime, but I don't see installation being radically different for it.

The downside of installing an inverter in the car is the potential for issues in the case of warranty work.

 

It measures the 12V current, and controls the DC-DC converter so that it supplies the load and charges the 12V battery as necessary (as long as the car is in "Ready" mode). I need to figure out where the current sensor is (I think it's near the battery) and which side to connect the load to (I think the load side not the battery side), but otherwise it's the same as any other 12V load like the rear defroster, seat heater, headlights, HVAC fan, brake booster pump, etc. I plan to add a ~80A DC circuit breaker (and maybe a fuse if it's appropriate) so that I don't accidentally overload the system.

 

I say "furnace" somewhat generically. It's actually a hydronic system, so I just have to power some control electronics and a small pump. I haven't measured the power consumption yet, but I expect it's 100-200W. I have a small manual transfer switch for the system so I can safely power it from an extension cord.

And the inverter is a 2000W pure sine inverter since I plan to use it for other things as well (running off deep cycle batteries not the car).

 

As a friend, I'm hoping you don't do this.

If you "experience" a problem that requires warranty work, and Toyota sees tool marks or electrical arcing; you'll be Shat out of luck.


Rob43

 

I had a 22Kw whole house Generac installed for just under 10K, that includes automatic transfer switch and a year of maintenance, and it would power up everything except the oven. it could have done that too but I could only have 4 high amp circuits and I happen to have 4 AC zones so I decided that I could do without an oven for a little while during outage.

After hurricane Sandy, there was massive lines at gas stations where people try to get a can of gas to run their portable generator. A car would very much be in the same boat. No gas would mean even a Prius wouldn't be able to help you out. That's when I decided not to rely on gasoline for backup power.

it's definitely a more cost efficient way to provide backup power IMHO than rigging out a car to do so. I have had the generator ran a week straight during a really bad winter storm and it had proven to be worth every penny. maintenance is really very simple as it is no different from any other power equipment. Oil change once a year (or 150 hours of run time).. oil filter\air filter and 2 spark plugs. Generac sells a maint kit for $30, which is really just an air filter, oil filter and a pair of plastic gloves. It takes 1 qt of automotive oil. If you are not a DIYer, maintenance contract is about $300 a year.

 

Yeah but when zombies come, I can drive away in Prime...