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Jan 3 / Ryan Freebern

Prius as backup generator

Someday when I own a house, I’ll want a generator to provide emergency backup power in case the grid goes down for one reason or another. This page says, why spring for a slow-to-start old-fashioned generator when people like my wife and me who own Toyota Priuses or other hybrid vehicles can just hook them up as a generator? This is a really cool solution to an annoying problem. Props to the guy who thought it up.

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2 Comments

  1. Jesus Ortiz / Aug 25 2006

    Now this is an excellent idea! I don’t want to void the warranty, so how can I do this? Will a DC/AC inverter plugged in to the 12V outlets work? For how long can I leave the car on in idle, could it damage the ICE?

  2. rfreebern / Aug 25 2006

    Jesus,
    You’ll have to read the web site I linked to in the post to find out how to do it. I’m no electrician, so I don’t fully understand the concept, and I can’t give you any more detail than “it can be done!”

    If you give it a try and get it working, let me know!

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