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Jack_in_VA
Premium Member
join:2007-11-26
North, VA

1 edit

Jack_in_VA to Cho Baka

Premium Member

to Cho Baka

Re: Using a hybrid car for power in case of blackout

How I added an inverter to my 2005 Prius

It's a lot of equipment and work for the less than 1000 watts. The average person would not have the ability to do this safely.

leibold
MVM
join:2002-07-09
Sunnyvale, CA
Netgear CG3000DCR
ZyXEL P-663HN-51

leibold

MVM

said by Jack_in_VA:

It's a lot of equipment and work for the less than 1000 watts.

said by How I added an inverter to my 2005 Prius :

I've read about other Prius owners (www.priups.com) connecting a sophisticated inverter to the 201.6 VDC (nominal) traction batteries and getting a significant amount of power from their car.

The very first paragraph of the document states clearly that other Prius owners have been able to get a significant amount of power by connecting to the high voltage traction battery. Despite knowing this, the writer of that document decides to use the 12V subsystem instead. He did that to avoid warranty issues and that is perfectly understandable but unlike most cars the 12V system in the Prius is very weak and cannot support a powerful inverter with its high current draw.
The high voltage system is a completely different story. The Prius has two motor/generators. The larger one (50kW) cannot be used while the car is stationary but the smaller one (20kW) can and as long as the car is "Ready" it will automatically start and and stop the engine to keep the high voltage battery charged (using the 20kW generator).
That is plenty of power even when taking distribution (long power cords) and conversion (poor inverter efficiency) losses into account.
said by Jack_in_VA:

The average person would not have the ability to do this safely.

Agreed.