The Super Storm and our LEAFing friends back East

[RegGuheert]

This is exactly what I'm hearing from my family. Escalating prices, long lines, many gas stations are pumped dry, others still don't have power to pump what gas they have. Fights have broken out to the point that police had to intervene.

I was at Costco yesterday in the LEAF and there were long lines at the gas station there. Interestingly, I noted that it was probably due to the low prices: $3.099/gallon!

Reading this thread makes me think about that further: I'm wondering if there could be a temporary OVERsupply of gasoline for some areas outside the storm area since there likely are many stations which cannot take any gas right now. Perhaps not, but I wonder given Costco's low price.

In an attempt to get people thinking, I mentioned that there ARE alternatives available, but I just get condescending remarks about how "real cars burn gas". It's annoying when you read it on the news. It's infuriating when it's your own family.

We have an inverter-based Honda generator which is pretty quiet and more efficient at light loads, but it still can only run for 10 hours or so on a tank. Given that we have limited stores of gasoline, our approach is to run the generator (which can power anything in the house except the heat pump, but not all at the same time) intermittently and charge the LEAF while it is on and then operate just the fridges most of the time from the LEAF.

Note to self: Now that the electric water heater is a heat pump, move it over to the breaker panel serviced by the generator.

 

[cwerdna]

]We have an inverter-based Honda generator which is pretty quiet and more efficient at light loads, but it still can only run for 10 hours or so on a tank. Given that we have limited stores of gasoline, our approach is to run the generator (which can power anything in the house except the heat pump, but not all at the same time) intermittently and charge the LEAF while it is on and then operate just the fridges most of the time from the LEAF.

How many gallons is the the tank?

http://priuschat.com/threads/dc-ac-inverter-ups-questions-discussion.111765/#post-1670832" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; (I've met the author of that post before) mentions his 1st gen Prius (NHW11) uses about 2 gallons of gas per day to run his inverter. Good thing about the Prius is that you just leave it in READY mode and the engine comes on as needed to keep the HV battery charged instead of the engine running the whole time. Inverter is being fed via the Prius' DC to DC converter (since they have no alternator). I haven't hunted around Priuschat to find typical fuel usage values while functioning as a generator...

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

just gassed up Prius yesterday at Costco at $3.399 which is 52 cents/gal less than last fill up at same location. this is from the $3.50's on Monday

 

[RegGuheert]

How many gallons is the the tank?

4.36 gallons.

http://priuschat.com/threads/dc-ac-inverter-ups-questions-discussion.111765/#post-1670832 (I've met the author of that post before) mentions his 1st gen Prius (NHW11) uses about 2 gallons of gas per day to run his inverter. Good thing about the Prius is that you just leave it in READY mode and the engine comes on as needed to keep the HV battery charged instead of the engine running the whole time. Inverter is being fed via the Prius' DC to DC converter (since they have no alternator). I haven't hunted around Priuschat to find typical fuel usage values while functioning as a generator...

That's nice! How much current is available from the Prius DC/DC converter continuously?

 

[DaveEV]

How much current is available from the Prius DC/DC converter continuously?

Like the LEAF, the Prius is capable of delivering about 100A on 12V.

Of course, the real hackers tap directly into the HV battery which has the benefit of bypassing DC/DC losses and higher voltage so more power is available with smaller wires. IIRC they either use refurb/used data-center type UPS to convert the HVDC to AC or a renewable grade-type inverter (like used for solar/wind backup power).

 

[Deleted member 3147]

What I would really like to do is install a 1000W sine-wave inveter permantly under the hood. I have a 2000VA Outback sine-wave inverter which is rugged enough for the task, but it is massive and simply will not fit. Given that Phil have installed a 3300W converter (charger) under his hood, perhaps he or someone else has managed to find an inverter that will fit in there. Or perhaps someone will engineer a kit which is purpose made...

I understand from Phil that his trick is to just remove the top cover on the inverter (looks like a valve cover). Apparently, it is purely cosmetic. That's where Phil put his add-on 3.3KW charger.

 

[surfingslovak]

Lots of interest in this thread, let's hope that's a good sign.

 

[Boomer23]

As I thought might happen, again in the case of Sandy, as it happened in the Japan tsunami, driving an EV can provide some mobility options in storm-affected areas, even if there are local power outages. Here's a recent article featuring our friend Tom Moloughney and other EV drivers:

http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/02/electric-car-owners-unfazed-by-storm/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;