Friday, February 25, 2005 FuelsAndVehicles.com Daily Updates
Toyota To Unveil Prius With Large Auxiliary Power Capability
Your car could power your home if a prototype Prius makes it to market,
Toyota officials tell Inside Fuels and Vehicles. The vehicle will be
unveiled next week at the annual meeting of the National Rural Electric
Cooperative Association in San Diego.
The ability to power a home takes it one step beyond the capability of mild
hybrids produced by General Motors. The hybrid-electric Sierra and
Silverado pickup trucks have 120-volt, single phase, alternating current
electrical outlets in both the cab and pickup bed. The vehicles were touted
as a boon to municipals and the Florida state government in grappling with
the aftermath of a series of hurricanes, which cut power to wide swaths of
the state.
After the announcement in San Diego the auxiliary power capable Prius will
be leased to a rural electric cooperative for 90 days for field testing in
Oklahoma "to identify technical issues and determine if there is a
commercial market" for the technology, according to a Toyota official.
The Prius would provide 3 kilowatts at 120 volts, enough to power the
typical home. The vehicle would come with an electrical cable that would be
attached to a slightly modified residential electric meter. The
modification, which a Toyota official characterized as "low cost," is
required not only to be able to connect the auxiliary power capable Prius
to the home but also to prevent power from being fed back into the power
grid. This is largely a safety issue. A power company repairman working on
electrical lines may be unaware power is being fed into the grid from
individual homes. This would open up the possibility of injury or
electrocution.
Up to now, the Toyota Prius has mainly appealed to suburban commuters
taking advantage of the fuel saving technology that delivers best in
typical stop-and-go commuter traffic. Behind California, hybrids sales are
highest in Virginia, driven by the state allowing commuters driving hybrids
to use high-occupancy lanes without the required passengers.
Introducing the new capability of the Prius brings hybrid technology not
only to farmers but to the heartland, where hybrid sales, and sales of
imports in general, have not fared as well as along the East and West
Coasts. While GM has tailored its Sierra and Silverado hybrid-electric
vehicle marketing to mainly construction workers and contractors, Toyota
seems to be going after the farmer. |
