Using PIP As A Generator

maybe it's in EV mode, lol

 

Yes.

 

Wouldn't do you much good if there's a flood. I can drive my Prius generator to high ground.

 

I have the key, so in a flood, I can put my generator in the Prius and drive to higher ground. Again I don’t see how hacking your car to make it a generator is any less expensive or in any real way better than just buying a generator. If it’s not a flood I can leave my family in a powered home and drive my Prius to get supplies.

 

I live on high ground.

 

You need a gasoline supply with the generator. Not convenient, not safe, not easy to get in a disaster (gas station power is out, gas tankers not resupplying). Transporting the generator and its gas supply with you, dangerous and takes up room needed for clothes, water, food, pets etc. Maintaining the generator for a disaster is problematic. Will it work vs. the car in running order, ready to go.

1500 watts is nice. Run some lights and the microwave, light and hot food, boiled water if necessary. Cool feature.

 

Following up to my own post.

The PiP owners manual page 474 says...

Code:

- How to charge the 12-volt battery
only perform a slow charge (5A or less). The 12-volt battery may explode if
charged at a quicker rate.

Ken@Japan

 

Can you use your Prius for some electrical power in an emergency; the answer is yes. All I’m saying is that it isn’t a panacea. If Toyota comes out with a cable designed to allow you to draw power out through the recharge port compatible with the US electrical standard than fine, but hacking into your traction battery charging system is dangerous and will surely void your warranty. You can buy a decent standalone generator set for between $500.00 and $1,000.00. The cable that is mentioned at this link: http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20121025/247531/
is good for only 1,500 watts, even though it is plugged into the PiP charging port and it still costs over a $1,000.00 US. We also know from the reports of others that draining your 12 volt battery and running your Prius out of gas can be a real pain. It’s your car, and you can do what you want with it. The only reason I originally posted to this thread was that folks were talking about trying to power their house with their Prius. I wanted to remind people that whether you use your Prius, or a generator, you still need to follow the same safety rules.

If you go ahead with using your Prius as a power source, I wish you the best of luck with it and I hope that it works for you. Just remember, before sending power to your electrical panel, be sure to disconnect the AC mains breaker first and if you plan on letting the ICE recharge your batteries, make sure the car is outside, to avoid possible CO & CO2 poisoning.

 

I have a properly stored supply of gas for my generator. Maintenance of a minimally run generator, is shall we say minimal. I roll it out and give it a quick test run every few months, and check the oil and air cleaner; not a lot of work for the peace of mind. If my generator runs out of gas I just put more in and restart it; the Prius, as we all know, doesn’t like being run out of gas. If we are both out of gas we will both be in the dark. I can still power my house and drive my car at the same time; and none of you have come up with a way to duplicate that. Again to each there own.

 

Gas does not last long in storage. It is dangerous to have around. Keeping sufficient quantity adds to storage and safety issues. Maintenance is problematic. Prius with relatively large and safe tank, daily maintenance check is a much better 1.5KW generator.

For $300, anyone can install a 2KW power inverter in their car for use for AC equipment or to use car or truck as an emergency power supply.

Prius, all the hybrids for that matter, are particularly good since they are designed as electric generator and storage device. Hybrid will run off the battery and only start the engine to charge while a regular car will require the engine to stay running which is very wasteful of the fuel.

 

In addition to the 100v versus 120v issue - Japan is 50hz like the UK ... rather than 60hz. But even so - the Prius has been used as a generator for years & years:
priups.com
That said - I see a day when using the prius as a generator will limit one's warranty. After all why should the manufacturer have to pay for our ancilary use of the Prius synergy system. The HSD Is designed for transportation - not supplying home energy ... even though it can certainly work as a Gen set. In theory you could easily put 3x as much work load on the HSD as you do the Prius' ICE. Heck, Buy yourself a welder - make the Prius supply your electricity. I see a day went Toyota will specifically monitor HSD use just so they won't end up having to pay warranty claims if/when the Prius is used for more than what it was intended to do under warranty.

SGH-I717R ? 2

 

Since to drive a Prius is to "use it as a generator", hard to see how plugging into the electrical connections supplied by Prius would void the warranty.

 

I guess you have not heard of fuel stabilizer, it allows the long term storage of gasoline. It is the same gas I use for my lawn mower and snow blower so it gets used and replaced on a regular basis. I don’t see how test running and checking the oil and filter on a generator every few months is problematic. By the way my generator is 5,000watts with 10,000watt surge capacity

True, but don’t try drawing 2KW through the Prius Accessary outlet, as it is only rated at 1.5 KW. If you shop around you can get three times the power for about twice the price with a generator

I have yet to hear anyone suggest a regular gasoline vehicle would make an efficient back up power source.

Again, if you live in an area where you have city/town water and natural gas to cook with and heat your water for bathing, 1,500 watts may work out for you; but if you are like me, and live where your water comes from a well and there is no natural gas service, you will need electricity for just about everything, and 1,500 watts won’t cut it. I do have a wood stove though, so at least I don’t have to use electricity to heat my home.

 

I'm getting tired of your negativity. In happy that you bought a big expensive generator. Really, it's great. Good for you. I can buy an inverter for $100 that will give me 1500 watts if I ever need it. Not perfect, but it's cheap.

I've lived in this home 14 years, and we lost power maybe twice, for less than two hours each time. I'll just get this in case of an earthquake.

 

Ya know, maybe I’ve been looking at this all wrong. I could install the inverter and add the 240 volt socket to one of the body panels; then I could mount my mower deck underneath and link it to the transmission; then I could mount the snow blower to the front; and then I could make it water tight and add a rudder connected to the steering and propeller to the back. Then I would have a cargeneratolawnrmowersnowblowerboat!

 

As you note, you are guessing and guessed wrong.

Key words being EMERGENCY BACKUP. Not all that concerned about efficiency in an EMERGENCY and it is a BACKUP until power is restored.

Benefits of a Prius as EMERGENCY BACKUP POWER are it is constantly maintained in running state, provides safe storage of fuel, can even get in it for heat plus 1.5KW of power for plug in power lights, chargers, microwave...nice.

 

It’s not meant as negativity; and I’m not saying you can’t do it. I’m a realist, and when someone says something is the greatest thing since sliced bread I get skeptical. In my neck of the woods the power goes out at least twice a year, and I have gone through 2 events where it was out for days. Hurricane Sandy was a near miss for me, so I guess I have a different viewpoint than yours, that’s all.

 

yes, you can spend small, but then you get small. Much of todays electronics (x10 devices, PC's, modums, even your portable EVSE) require pure sine wave / grid quality power. THAT will cost you appx $4k if it's 240v / 5kW that you're looking for. If you're running a well pump, that's what you need. If a need for moderate power is the case, the puny gen set won't cut it. Neither will the puny 100v / 50hz cord that Toyota makes. In that case your back to either looking at priups.com - or the $4k high quality generator/inverter. These 2 options WILL do it all ... the little systems will do just a tad. If you go light, you hopefully won't regred it.