This is my first thread in all the years on this forum. I want facts or ideas about how functional a Prius would be as a source of power for an RV. How many watts or what could you run while hooked up. How efficient would this be if possible as opposed to a generator of the same wattage? My first thought is using a set of short heavy cables to connect to the 12 volt battery in the Prius to house batteries to charge them. Will the Prius wiring, charging and regulating systems handle this and will this effectively use the generator and main battery pack in the Prius? The second thought is to connect to a charge controller like on solar systems. The last thought is an inverter in the Prius to plug into the shore power plug in in the RV. I'm thinking that this might be better and cheaper than buying $1000 worth of batteries and 1,200 watts of a regular solar system. Thanks and remember to explain in simple terms with no abbreviations but drawings and charts would be great.
Is it possible to use a Prius to power or charge RV electrical systems?
- Thread starter bullfrog
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I have no idea how a Prius works but if that is the case, could one not hook up an inverter to the Prius 12 volt battery and plug in a regular 12 volt battery charger to charge rv batteries.bullfrog said:
I know you should loose power from the inverter and battery charger but a lot more convenient than large jumper cable. The inverter could be hard wired to the Prius 12 volt battery and the battery charger (converter) hard wired to the rv coach batteries and just an extension cord to used between the two.
Interesting question BTW.
Well I shall from this day on be remembered as the guy that couldn't figure out how to correct/edit his first thread. A Toyota Prius is the vehicle I am interested in and hopefully my computor/grammer/spelling skills will return before the end of this thread. Mods feel free to correct anything in this thread. The main reason for doing that as I understand is if the car were to be parked some distance away. But I am wondering how big an inverter I could use for how long and would it be cost effictive? Could I use a large enough inverter to just plug in at the 50 amp plug and could the Prius supply enough power to act as say a 7,000 watt generator?
B and C
Well-known member
Did a quick search and found this: https://www.yourmechanic.com/article/how-to-use-a-prius-as-a-generator-by-elan-mcafee
It seems they can be used for power up to about 5K watts.
You would need an adapter from the RV to plug into it and you probably couldn't run everything you want. The shore power of your RV should already be setup to charge your house batteries.
It seems they can be used for power up to about 5K watts.
You would need an adapter from the RV to plug into it and you probably couldn't run everything you want. The shore power of your RV should already be setup to charge your house batteries.
I'm installing a 1000 watt inverter in my Prius right now, I've heard of folks going as big as 2k, but I have no idea of the limit. I do know how it works though. In the ready mode the 12v battery is connected directly to the 220v traction battery through a reduction DC to DC converter. That means you are not running down the 12v battery, you are getting power directly from the big battery. When the big battery's charge gets low the engine starts to charge it back up.
No I don't own a Prius but I have wasted a lot of money on foolish ideas. I have spent most of the day chasing down resources and old threads. It seems a few people during hurricanes and living off grid are able to use specialized inverters/ transformers directly connected to a stock Prius(running car unmodified because every time they modify it the get trouble codes that affect operation as a car) transit battery( the big one) to power their house freezers, lights, TV's and etc. probably up to 2,000 or so watts with no problems and use less fuel and noise than Honda 2000i generator. Some using them 24/7 for up to 3 days on 8 gallons of fuel if I am reading their posts correctly. It looks like some of the inverters/transformers may be capable of up to 6,000 watts for brief periods. The reason the smaller 12volt system is limited to 1,000 watts appears to be a 100amp fuse in the circuit to charge the 12 volt battery. New developments in Japanese electric cars look like the manufactures will or have in some cases made them with AC plug ins just as emergency power sources. Prices for even the pure wave inverters look to be well below $500 and in some cases less than $200. Maybe a well equiped 4x4 truck pulling a 24 foot flatbed with a Prius and small box in front with some solar and electric heat and air conditioning for sleeping might be possible. B and C the link shows it is possible but the company is no longer in business and most links don't work. Thank you though.
I am just thinking out loud as I know nothing about a Prius but given the information you are providing, the size and length of your 12 volt battery cables will determine how large and inverter you can use. The 12 volts from the DC/DC reducer still have to travel through those cables as you mentioned you are "drawing 12volts DC from a 210volt DC battery (the Prius drive battery) through a DC/DC reducer".kygreg said:
Ken in Anaheim
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Bullfrog, checkout the Prius Camping Facebook group. Most find a 1500 watt (pure sine wave) inverter perfect. Just leave the Prius in the "on" position and the car will auto start as needed to keep the car's 12v battery fully charged as well as allowing you to run: an induction cooker, microwave oven, refer, TV, lights , computer (just not ALL at the same time. The Prius actually uses LESS gas-per-watt as the Honda EU2200i.Most use a permanent connection to the 12v battery --quick connect plug--inverter so as to not leave the inverter permanently plugged in.
By using the transet battery with an inverter/transformer it appears it may be possible to get enugh watts to run a 1500 watt ceranic heater and a 5000 btu air conditioning unit as well as keep up my 200 amp hour Duracell batteries/305 watt solar during cloudy or rainy weeks on 2 to 3 gallons of gasoline per 24 hours with less noise and run time on the car than the best Honda generator. It seems with solar everyone ends up wanting more and a few have spent a lot of money on batteries and panels to get a system that gives them enough power to run an air conditioner a few hours a day. This looks like it could do all those things and provide a cheap form of transportation. I could see in my case a heavy duty low MPG 4x4 with a flat bed camper car hauler that I can heat, cool and power with a high MPG, low cost plug in electrical vehicle to use for power and trips. 3,000 watts of power does away with the propane can make on the road living pretty easy and since we are talking probably less than $5,000 to get started not a bad way to go even with a tent when the weather gets bad you can still retreat to the Prius.
B and C
Well-known member
Did a little searching and it seems there is a 100 amp fuse between the propulsion battery system and the 12V engine battery. This is the fuse everyone worries about blowing if you tie into the engine battery. I see earlier in the thread where the propulsion battery is 220VDC. If this is true, I found this inverter: https://www.amazon.com/1500W-220VDC-220VAC-Single-Inverter/dp/B00WZHIO6I
It converts 220V DC to 120V AC. Your trailer has 50 amp service which is two phase 120V. Maybe two of these inverters and two extension cords connected to your trailer plug. A pigtail would have to be made to accomplish this though. An electrical engineer would have to be consulted to be sure this combining of inverters would actually work.
Just a thought.
Edit to add: that inverter is also 220V AC.
It converts 220V DC to 120V AC. Your trailer has 50 amp service which is two phase 120V. Maybe two of these inverters and two extension cords connected to your trailer plug. A pigtail would have to be made to accomplish this though. An electrical engineer would have to be consulted to be sure this combining of inverters would actually work.
Just a thought.
Edit to add: that inverter is also 220V AC.
Manyways2go
Active member
bullfrog
Makes my brain hurt thinking on this one! I can confirm 12volts battery separate was in the passenger side rear just inside on 2010 model Prius
The electric battery pack under the back seat I believe but I didn't actually look to see. I would expect to charge the 12volt would not be much different than others because the battery with only accept what it needs in amps and volts. So a guess would be 13-14.5v charging and amps of maybe very little up to max 70-100 with some rpm and a lot of load from accessories etc.
To be fair I really need to research this myself further and could be so far off on this one... different generator motor setup that included a 2.0 gasoline engine too. A large controller under the hood for the electrical and I also think it had an electric water-pump on the engine.
Interesting concept to consider looking at your most recent post for someone that has one available. Not sure its feasible but still interesting.
Auto start and easy on fuel but still was 2.0 liter gas running almost always on mine. I didn't try inverter or camping always took truck and trailer
Makes my brain hurt thinking on this one! I can confirm 12volts battery separate was in the passenger side rear just inside on 2010 model Prius
The electric battery pack under the back seat I believe but I didn't actually look to see. I would expect to charge the 12volt would not be much different than others because the battery with only accept what it needs in amps and volts. So a guess would be 13-14.5v charging and amps of maybe very little up to max 70-100 with some rpm and a lot of load from accessories etc.
To be fair I really need to research this myself further and could be so far off on this one... different generator motor setup that included a 2.0 gasoline engine too. A large controller under the hood for the electrical and I also think it had an electric water-pump on the engine.
Interesting concept to consider looking at your most recent post for someone that has one available. Not sure its feasible but still interesting.
Auto start and easy on fuel but still was 2.0 liter gas running almost always on mine. I didn't try inverter or camping always took truck and trailer
Up to a 2,000 watt inverter is possible and easily done with several threads found by google search "Aims 2,000 watt inverter Prius" which results in or about 80 amps going through the 12volt circuit 100 amp fuse. So put in an 80 amp fuse and you shouldn't have a problem as the battery pack is rated at 3,000 watts continous and the charging/cooling system can handle it, the inverter and install kit if you can find one in stock runs around $400 to $500. If you need more like 3,000 watts continous with a monentary surge up to 6,000 watts you must tap the main battery which high Direct Current voltage beyound the control relay so that if something goes wrong you can shut off the car and kill the power. Then you install an uninterupted power supply without the battery (connecting the Prius battery where the units battery would normally be connected) APC SURTD 3000 or APC SURTD 5000 with the settings low enough to make it work all the time. This will produce 208(240) volt Alternating Current which can be transformed with an APC SURT003 208(240) volt step down transformer to 120/240 split phase voltage. Plenty of power for most, one person was suppositly running a 1 ton ac unit off this I believe he stated. It is or was fairly inexpensive at the time the thread was posted at the Arizona Sun and Wind site under "Using your Pris as a generator". I shopped some for used componets and found a uninterupted power source for around $500 used with new ones well over $1,000. The author of the thread said usually big companies bought new larger units and let the old small units go for scrap prices and was very specific only these units were proven to work as some need to sense incoming AC power to start. I did not have much luck finding any probably due to recent demand due to fires and storms. The transformer was available and around $300 to $400. You could spend more for new componets than the car but you might get lucky and get used componets for less than $700 and have a portable power station!
I am also very interested in this topic, willing to put in a fair bit of working helping figure out the issues, would like to do the same with a Highlander one day
so Yes, I think it's very do-able
but you would need to put up with jargon, abbreviations and acronyms, if not easily googled (GIYF) then just ask for meanings.
so Yes, I think it's very do-able
but you would need to put up with jargon, abbreviations and acronyms, if not easily googled (GIYF) then just ask for meanings.
There is no need to use an inverter like that, when you connect to the 12 volt battery, you are directly connected to the 220v dc battery. Nothing to fear about the 100 amp fuse, think about how many amps that is, what would you plug in that would ever draw that much power. It's for shorts in the system, so 100 amps is fine. BTW the 12v battery doesn't even start the gas engine, it's either the 220v battery from a stopped position or the motor generator when you're moving, sort of like bump starting.B and C said:
I'm installing a 1000 watt inverter. If you are interested, here is a great video about doing it.
It would be easy to exceed 100A (1300W?) trying to run a large aircon, microwave or a heat-producing appliance. So yes, don't do that.kygreg said:
Or more in line with my plans, charging a large high-CAR bank like LFP.
defined CAR here https://vanlivingforum.com/showthread.php?pid=427092#pid427092
Of course the system could be designed to prevent that by limiting current, e.g. by putting a DCDC charger in between, but that adds to the expense.
But OK, say I was pulling say 80A off the 12V battery for 3-4 hours. I assume the Toyota gennie handle that no problem, but what about the rest of the electronic systems?
What if the aircon was on at the same time?
Have you got any links for detailed original instructions on this stuff?bullfrog said:
Also, tapping directly into the high-voltage DC propulsion circuits really requires a "this can easily kill you!" warning.
What device is used to step the current down from that high voltage - do you know the actual voltage? - to the input voltage required by the UPS (I assume 12V?) ?
Personally, I'd think it better to avoid that route entirely, just install a large enough LFP bank in the camper to run whatever you need,
and just charge that from the Toyota EV at an 80A rate, really should be plenty fast for most, and a lot safer.
Plus those left behind when the EV is used for transportation, maybe commuting into the city for a long work day, can continue as normal, the EV is just a charger used a couple hours a day at most, not a standby generator directly powering loads.
I believe all the links are on Northern Arizona Sun and Wind site links, give them a call if you cann't find them. The Prius transit battery ( the big 200 volts plus ) was an after thought by the orginal designers in order to do things like regenerative braking and such. I don't totally understand how the Uninterepted Power Supply (UPS) does it but it takes the 200 volts Direct Current (DC) from the transit battery (in place of the UPS's normal DC battery bank) and puts out 220 Alternating Current (AC) which then is wired to a step down transformer which takes the 220 AC and puts out 110 AC and 220 AC split phase current that can be wired into a transfer switch in the house. As the car isn't moving it's cooling system is only estimated to be able to keep the battery temps within as acceptable range with a 3000 watt inverter. This was done with the hybrid Prius not the Plug-in Hybrid Prius. I believe that the plug-in uses an additional different chemistry battery and I have not been able to find information on those. There is less information on the Highlander Hybrid but their systems appear to be similar. By the way it is highly recommended tapping the transit battery after the cut off relay with the orange disconnect removed and warning not to try to start the car while doing so.
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