Future Prius Could Power Your House – In A Pinch
If everything goes according to what The Nikkei [sub] has heard on the grapevine sake circuit, Toyota will deliver a plug-in Prius hybrid by 2014. A plug-in with an interesting twist …
Before we get to the twist: The only thing that is new about a revelation of a plug-in Prius is that it would come 2 years later than originally intimated. When Toyota revealed its green roadmap in November 2010, they talked about a plug-in hybrid Prius by 2012, and a pure plug-in iQ in the same year. A 2012 plug-in hybrid Prius can be seen at Toyota’s website, and can even be pre-ordered “later this year.”
What the sometimes not very car-savvy Nikkei may have picked up is that when the Prius switches to its 4th generation some time in the 2014 timeframe, the plug could come standard for all Prii. This would place the Prius head-to-head against the Volt, except in price. The Nikkei heard that the plug-in hybrid Prii “will start at around 2.05 million yen, ($25,000) in line with current prices.”
Says The Nikkei: “The future plug-ins will feature high-performance lithium ion batteries. Current models can travel a maximum 38km per liter. The fourth-generation offerings will be able to cover more than 60km, including electricity-only mileage.” Mathematically, 30 km/liter convert to 70 mpg. 60 km/liter convert to 140 mpg. The usual disclaimers apply.
Asked about the electric plans, Toyota spokesman Dion Corbett said that he “can’t comment on future models” – what else should he say.
The Nikkei heard that “Toyota envisions the batteries also being used as emergency household power sources.” This meme has been around for years. The March 11 earthquake and tsunami could bring it closer to reality.
At the April 22 press conference in Tokyo, where Akio Toyoda laid out the plans of how Toyota will get back to a normal production schedule by the end of the year, Toyoda said that he had been “very moved” when he heard that people in the stricken areas had used the batteries of their Estima hybrid minivan as a power source for cell phones and laptops when the regular power was out.
It would be no great engineering feat to build a bidirectional charger that allows the car battery to provide back-up power to the house, and that turns a hybrid into a genset. With a solar array on the roof of the house, the most expensive part of a solar system, the battery and the back-up generator, would already sit in the garage.
Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.
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I live in a seismic area of the US where power could be out for a while and have a plain old inverter to hook up to any of our cars to run a few small items like the fridge and some lights and a sump pump. Less expensive than a generator, the size of a toaster, one less motor to maintain, portable, quiet, and you can use the car battery for low loads at night without having a noisy machine running outdoors. It's the best choice for most people. We have a second small inverter that creates the clean power needed for computers and phones.
Bertel, The way I understand it, is that (as you mentioned) you will get a standard plug-in for 2014, but you will still have the option to buy one in 2012.