Toyota Prius: It's not just a car, it's an emergency generator

[Dogbert]

Originally Posted by NY Times

The Prius has a new use, and it does not involve driving. The Harvard Press — which serves the Massachusetts town of Harvard as opposed to the university — reported that the car’s battery helped keep the lights on for some locals during the recent ice storms.

The newspaper reports that John Sweeney, a resident who lost power, “ran his refrigerator, freezer, TV, woodstove fan and several lights through his Prius, for three days, on roughly five gallons of gas.”

Said Mr. Sweeney, in an e-mail message to The Press: “When it looked like we were going to be without power for awhile, I dug out an inverter (which takes 12v DC and creates 120v AC from it) and wired it into our Prius.”

According to the newspaper, “the device allowed the engine to run every half hour, automatically charging the car battery and indirectly supplying the required power.” (The Times reported on a similar venture last year.)

In fact, this development, which comes at a tough time for Toyota, which makes the Prius, may not be as strange as it sounds. Mr. Sweeney’s tinkering is along the lines of the “smart grid” technology that many utility executives and other experts say lies in our future. The idea is that the battery of an electric car — a plug-in, in most smart-grid scenarios — can feed power to the electricity grid when the grid needs it.

Even President-elect Barack Obama has endorsed this idea, as seen toward the end of this YouTube clip in which he said: “We’re going to have to have a smart grid if we want to use plug-in hybrids — then we want to be able to have ordinary consumers sell back the electricity that’s generated.”

Mr. Sweeney, out of necessity, got there first.

http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/20...-generator/?em

[Labcoatguy]

Interesting idea, but it'd be even more efficient (from fuel to electricity) if it were a hydrogen fuel cell rather than gasoline engine. Hmm, where have I heard that idea before...

[GRtak]

It takes far more energy to create the hydrogen in the first place. Deisel would be the best bet, bio deisel would be even better.

[katwalk]

you need electricity to make the hydrogen so that's impractical.

[starfox07]

Excuse my ignorance, but couldn't you essentially do with this any car with an alternator...aka any car period?

[Ottobon]

Originally Posted by starfox07

Excuse my ignorance, but couldn't you essentially do with this any car with an alternator...aka any car period?

Yes, but you'd have to keep it idling all day, instead of just starting it to charge every once in awhile.

Personally i think this is the best use for pruis's, The less there are clogging up the freeways with their "iDrive 55" bumper-stickers the better.

[bartboy9891]

Wouldn't it be more efficient to just use a stand-alone generator?

[the Interceptor]

Originally Posted by bartboy9891

Wouldn't it be more efficient to just use a stand-alone generator?

Probably, but if you don't have one...

[Cobol74]

Prius my Arse.

[nouseferaname90]

The Toyota Prius can also suffice as a piece of shit.

Just my opinion though.

[bartboy9891]

Originally Posted by the Interceptor

Probably, but if you don't have one...

Generators can get expensive, but the Prius is hardly cheap.

[DarkReaper]

When I read the thread title I thought prii generate emergencies.
Still a stand-alone generator would be both more efficient, cheaper, occupy less space and is more versatile.
The prius has an engine that isn't designed to operate at it's most efficient rpm all the time, and too much energy is wasted due to inefficiencies of the alternator and batteries.

Besides you could jury-rig that same 12v dc to 120v ac converter to a diesel or petrol car battery and supply your house with that power. And I recon the Diesel will be more efficient than the Atkinson cycle petrol engine in the prius.

[idk]

I don't have display that shows my consumption. But my aunts Golf needs 0.5 liter (0,13 us gallons) of diesel per hour in idle.
There are 40 liters in the tank (when full) so thats enough for 80 hours. Why do i need a Prius for that??? Just a waste of Energy to charge extra batteries for that purpose.

BUT THE BIGGEST ISSUE:

Why the hell would you run a refrigerator and a freezer when you're in an ice storm??? Just put that stuff on your balcony

[the Interceptor]

Originally Posted by bartboy9891

Generators can get expensive, but the Prius is hardly cheap.

Originally Posted by DarkReaper

When I read the thread title I thought prii generate emergencies.
Still a stand-alone generator would be both more efficient, cheaper, occupy less space and is more versatile.
The prius has an engine that isn't designed to operate at it's most efficient rpm all the time, and too much energy is wasted due to inefficiencies of the alternator and batteries.

Besides you could jury-rig that same 12v dc to 120v ac converter to a diesel or petrol car battery and supply your house with that power. And I recon the Diesel will be more efficient than the Atkinson cycle petrol engine in the prius.

You guys surely missed that there was an ice-storm, so going to the next buy-it-all shop and get a generator was kinda out of question.

Also ... FFS WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU GUYS ON ABOUT??? It's like you only focus on all the bad and wrong things, solely missing that this was one single situation we were told about, and not the revolutionary idea that's supposed to change our life forever!

[idk]

Originally Posted by the Interceptor

You guys surely missed that there was an ice-storm

No. So once again please... WHY bother for a refrigerator and a freezer which are the one of the most power consuming devices you have in your house...

[bartboy9891]

Originally Posted by the Interceptor

You guys surely missed that there was an ice-storm, so going to the next buy-it-all shop and get a generator was kinda out of question.

Also ... FFS WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU GUYS ON ABOUT??? It's like you only focus on all the bad and wrong things, solely missing that this was one single situation we were told about, and not the revolutionary idea that's supposed to change our life forever!

I wasn't saying they should have gone out and bought a generator during the storm. But at the end of the article it sounded like they were advocating buying a Prius because it can be used as a generator.

[Dogbert]

Um, what? The end of the article talks about putting the power in a hybrid/electric car's batteries back onto an electrical grid. This guy just cut out the middleman and gave it to himself.

[the Interceptor]

Originally Posted by idk

No. So once again please... WHY bother for a refrigerator and a freezer which are the one of the most power consuming devices you have in your house...

Yeah, you did. Also, I wouldn't necessarily put all the stuff from my fridge and my freezer out when there's an ice storm. Strong winds aren't really good for all kinds of foods, and neither are all temperatures.

[DarkReaper]

Except that that revolutionary idea justs shifts a part of the pollution from the individual to the anonymous community at large. Easing personal conscience but at the momentary standard of electricity generation not really solving much. Depending on the level of fossil fuels to regenerative power used in the country at hand, a prius can be slightly more polluting or slightly less poluting than a modern diesel engine. Besides hybrid engines lose nearly all their advantage when not in stop and go traffic.

When you are not braking enough (which doesn't generate that much power anyway) your engine still has to produce all that extra energy you use up when you arrive at your destination.

And citing emergency power storage in prius batteries as a major advantage is just political PR.
How can there be surplus energy in your prius? First of all, true surplus energy while plugged in can only exist when you keep your engine running in your garage all the time. If you deplete your hybrids batteries every time you plug it in, then you have to recharge them on the following drive. Completely destroying every purpose of a hybrid and instead creating a decentralised and less efficient power generating grid.

[NooDle]

Finally! Pruiseses start to make sense to me now! They DO have a purpose in life now, other than to annoy me