Emergency Power from a Prius

 Power to the People: Run Your House on a Prius
During a recent six-hour power failure, Mr. Factor estimated that his
2005 Prius used less than one gallon of gasoline.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/02/automobiles/02POWER.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

 
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/02/automobiles/02POWER.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

As I wrote in the Toyota Newsgroup when "Jeff" posted this:

This is not new news to me as I have known for months that this is possible
and I don't even own one.  You can also pull about 1kw from the 12v bus
continuously as long as the car is in "READY" mode.

 Daniel Who Wants to Know brought forth on stone tablets:

... and I can pull approximately 1.3 KW from the 12V bus continuously in
my 1985 TransAm (100 amp alternator), as long as it is in "Ready" mode.
  In fact, one can pull about 1.7 KW from the 12V bus in *any* car
equipped with a 130 amp alternator.

 
The Difference is that the output of alternators depends on engine speed and
that to provide full power continuously the car would have to at least be at
high idle.  Also most alternators on cars will overheat and burn out if
asked to provide full rated amperage for very long.  To get full output for
hours instead of minutes would require a truck or ambulance alternator that
was designed for a 100% duty cycle.  Also to provide that output the engine
would have to be on at all times just to spin it which would use lots of
gas.  The Prius OTOH doesn't have an alternator, it has a liquid cooled 100
amp dc-dc converter which uses the HV bus to supply the 12v bus.  Because of
this not only will it provide the full output until the car runs out of gas
but since the engine only cycles on a few times an hour to recharge the
traction battery it would consume less gas for the same output which means
more time between refills.

 

Daniel Who Wants to Know wrote:

Hmmmmm....wonder if could take a wrecked prius and hook it up through
an inverter.....and disconnect from the grid....would have to work
out gallons per kw/h.....and how long could expect to last before
rebuild/replacement.....does anyone have any efficiency numbers...???

have fun......sno

--
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  Is it any more dangerous then what we are doing
  now.....???
  
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