Powering a Pod with a Prius

As I type this I'm running most of my home from my wife's Prius.  No, it isn't April 1st.  Three years ago I bought a large inverter and a large battery bank, so I could run most of the 120 volt circuits in my house at night when I wouldn't want to listen to a generator (during an outage).  I knew at the time that I could hook up the inverter to the traction battery (the big one that drives the electric motors) in our Prius, but I didn't.  Without going into geeky details, the inverter is a special type which can accept the high DC voltage output by the Prius, most of the ones you find at the store and online can't work with that high voltage.

I finally decided what the heck, and made the connection after a few hour's work today.  I'm going to run it overnight to measure the amount of gas it consumes.  Reading discussions online from others that have done this, it could run for 3 to 5 days on one tank of gas although I'm only going to shoot for about 15 hours.

So how is this a podmod?  Now our Prius is a big generator on wheels.  We can go dry camping and still use the microwave and A/C without hauling around and listening to a loud generator.  

That is a great idea!  Can you post some pictures of the setup?

Terry

It seems that.. if the Prius can't tow the pod.. but the tow vehicle can carry the regular genny..

It's a net loss in the Co2 factor because you are driving a second vehicle...

BUT, I am very impressed with the ability to use the power in the Prius battery pack.. details would be awesome, as my parents have a Fusion hybrid, and it seems it should work with it also... Could be handy info for them if another "big one" hits northern Cali..

I wish I could take credit for the idea, but others went before me.  I did an in-depth write-up on a solar forum I frequent if you want pics and the boring tech details.  http://www.wind-sun.com/ForumVB/showthread.php?t=12962

Sorry I didn't post them directly here, but its a pain getting them up on one forum let alone 2!

furpod, the Fusion probably has its own voltage range which may make it difficult to find an inverter or UPS that can handle it.  Not impossible, it will just take some investigation.  A much easier alternative is to stick with the 12 volt system.  Most hybrids drive the 12 volt system from the high volt system (no alternators like your standard car) through a DC-to-DC converter.  A Prius can handle a 1000 watt load on top of its internal 12 volt loads (its converter is about 1200 watts).  A Volt can handle 1500 watts (its converter is 2000 watts).  You would have to do some checking online to find out what the converter in the Fusion will do, then deduct a few hundred watts to see what you can use yourself.  1000 watts is more than enough to keep a fridge running, plus a few CFLs and a TV.  And you won't have to dig in any deeper than the 12 volt battery.

Cool stuff......a "generator" that you can drive!