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Energi as a backup Generator


wxdude
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In years past I have used vehicles as a generator in emergency situations.  I have looked around the internet and found cases where hybrids were used as standby generators by hooking up a power inverter and leaving the car in run.  

 

I am wondering if anyone knows what the wattage of the inverter is that charges the 12V system on the car?  The Prius folks have said their system is good for a 1k dc to ac inverter.  Does anyone have some numbers for the 12V system in the energi?

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In years past I have used vehicles as a generator in emergency situations.  I have looked around the internet and found cases where hybrids were used as standby generators by hooking up a power inverter and leaving the car in run.  

 

I am wondering if anyone knows what the wattage of the inverter is that charges the 12V system on the car?  The Prius folks have said their system is good for a 1k dc to ac inverter.  Does anyone have some numbers for the 12V system in the energi?

You're probably not getting pure sine wave AC so be careful what you plug into it.

 

ChuckJ

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How would this work?  Would the ICE just run along and generate the juice while you run an extension cord from the outlet on the back of the console?  I've been known to run an extension cord from the inverter I mounted under the seat on my 7.3 L diesel into the house on occasion, leaving the engine running.

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I'm not talking about using the 150 watt outlet already in the car.  I'm looking in the direction of getting a 1kw+ inverter and running that off the 12v system.

 

From reading around on the other hybrids/EV's the Leaf has an 80 amp dc-dc converter, it could supply 800 watts or so. Prius' have a 100 amp converter that can safely supply 1kw.  I have been unsuccessful to see what the dc-dc converter is rated for on the fusion though.  Even found some threads on other sites about this with no answer.

 

I would rather spend a little cash on a good 1kw inverter than on a genny that will probably never get used.  

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There isn't a whole lot to the 'how to'.  With the "Prius Generator" I've seen, they managed to find the spec to the DC to DC converter, which gave something like 1000w or more, so the guy simply connected a 1kw inverter to his battery posts, left the car in Run mode, and the car would start up intermittently to charge up the HV pack, which would then drain through the converter to the 12V system.  What we currently don't know is the spec/capacity of the DC to DC converter in the Fusion.

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I would expect a few hours with an intermittent load... but don't forget, the engine will also start coming on if the charge does get too low, so don't park it in an enclosed space, or at least have adequate ventilation.  The Prius was apparently able to supply power for quite a while.  Besides, the best thing about using the car as a generator is it is QUIET in comparison to the portable noisemakers.

 

Look around on Google for 'prius generator' and you'll find quite a few stories.

 

But again, this relies totally on the capacity of the DC to DC converter.  One person assumed 100A, but we all know what THAT means. :)

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When I have run an extension cord out to the truck in the past, it was to run the TV and Direct TV.  With a 32 gallon tank on my diesel F250 it could probably run for a few days.  I have a multi program chip controlled by a rotary switch and one of the programs is "high idle" of about 1400 RPMs.  There's nothing quiet about a 7.3 liter V8 running at 1400 RPM through a 4" exhaust!!!  But, I live in the country and if the neighbors could hear it, the noise wasn't much by the time it made it to them.

 

My 2 cents on the matter is don't try to run anything that either heats or cools.  Those devices take the most juice.  Well those and pumps!

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Well, I had meant it'll run for a few hours just on batteries.  It'll probably go for days with the gas engine coming on.  As far as running heating and cooling, if you have a natural gas furnace, that's fine since all you're running is the blower motor and the ignitor.  You could probably run a tiny electric space heater (750w or less but that's not worth it).  Your fridge would be something else to run off of the inverter as well.

 

For me, I'd run my aquarium off of it, my furnace, and my fridge.  I don't think I could run all three at once though.  I have no idea how much energy my furnace blower uses (but I do think it's a lot... my electric bill goes up quite a bit in winter), my aquarium has a 300w heater plus filter and air pump, and I think my fridge uses about 500w while running.

 

Granted, a small, portable generator could supply 3000w no problem, or if you wanted to run a large portion of your house, a 6600 watt 240v generator would fit the bill nicely, but if you wanted a pure sinewave generator or an inverter generator, you're going to be shelling out the bucks for it.

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  • 2 months later...

There are extensive discussions and solutions to this on Pruis forums.  Pls google "using PiP as a generator" for starters.  

 

IMHO, considering the relatively gigantic traction (EV) battery present in our plug-in cars and the attendant already built-in inverters, computer algorithms and circuitry provided, the best way to provide generator-like house power is to tap the main battery.  Prius solutions go up to steady-draw 2000 Watts, and can reliably surge to 5000 Watts depending on starting draws.

 

There's an AIMS 2000 Watt pure sine wave inverter on E-bay for just several hundred $$ and coupled with a Reliance circuit interconnection switch, this can power most things in the house for days on end.  Multiple people have run their Priuses for 2 - 3 days while powering their houses in the last 18 months, especially after Hurricane Sandy.  The beauty of this approach is: one "sunk cost" machine instead of two, no noise, and when you need gas you go & get some by driving to a working gas station (even 50 miles away).

 

The Fusion Energi's battery is more than twice the size of the Prius battery, which is a great advantage.  And BTW - this setup can be made to work via a standard house generator plug on the exterior wall.

 

Two ways to approach this:  either by setting up a large UPS and a small UPS (both necessary) in the house and using the car as an on-demand generator to the UPS (see www.priups.com) or alternately by just hooking the car's large battery directly into a good large inverter like the AIMS one and on to a split circuit emergency redirect switch.  It's a balance between cost and ease of initial setup.  Those of us with needs for uninterruptible power (medical devices, work-related home-based computer systems, etc) should look into the PriUPS setup.  the rest of us, who dislike large lead acid batteries in the house, can do the simpler design setup.  Also check out www.converdant.com for turnkey solutions.

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