Prius info

[TWIH]

I'm no expert but I do use my 2011 Prius gen 3 as a camper. There are several YT videos about making a Prius a camper and I am not going to try and upstage or restate them, however if you have a Prius specific question I will try to answer it.

I'm a minimalist as far as power needs so don't expect "how do you wire up 120 volt appliances to your traction battery" to get an answer.

[rvpopeye]

Well,,,,,,,,,,,you might get that question , (you might be able to hook up an inverter) and so guess my Prius question is , is the big battery 12volts ?

[Cammalu]

Brent is here also. He's another Prius camper but hasn't posted.


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[rvpopeye]

OK , I just answered my own question (with the help of DuckDuckGo)
Prius traction battery voltage varied a bit from year to year but is 200-300 volt range so no inverter unless you want to release the magic smoke !

[TWIH]

Well,,,,,,,,,,,you might get that question , (you might be able to hook up an inverter) and so guess my Prius question is , is the big battery 12volts ?

the majority of Prius' have the tried and true nickel-metal-hydride battery pack, only the newest models and the all electric Prius Prime are getting or already have Lithium Ion.  

Here's what  http://www.hybridcars.com/hybrid-car-battery/  says about the Prius traction battery:

"The battery pack of the second generation Toyota Prius consists of 28 Panasonic prismatic nickel metal hydride modules—each containing six 1.2 volt cells—connected in series to produce a nominal voltage of 201.6 volts. The total number of cells is 168, compared with 228 cells packaged in 38 modules in the first generation Prius. The pack is positioned behind the back seat.

The weight of the complete battery pack is 53.3 kg. The discharge power capability of the Prius pack is about 20 kW at 50 percent state-of-charge. The power capability increases with higher temperatures and decreases at lower temperatures. The Prius has a computer that’s solely dedicated to keeping the Prius battery at the optimum temperature and optimum charge level. The Prius supplies conditioned air from the cabin as thermal management for cooling the batteries. The air is drawn by a 12-volt blower installed above the driver’s side rear tire well."

end of quote

[TWIH]

Brent is here also. He's another Prius camper but hasn't posted.


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If Brent is on here then I defer all Prius questions to him, he's a "real" Prius camper as opposed to "wannabe me"...

[Cammalu]

He's been quiet so far. He's working on building out a 4 wheel camper for his Tacoma. That's what he'll be taking out this year.


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[TWIH]

Thanks for the update. 

Frankly, while the Prius is a fantastic gas saver and has it's own power and climate control system for a/c (so no genny needed), it's just too dang small for me, and I'm not big.  I've been trapped by weather for a few hours and just about went "batsh*t crazy" in the little space. 

For a true FT dweller experience I couldn't recommend it. I'm not even seriously considering a minivan anymore as again, the loss of usable space is too much of a trade-off for me. 

Hopefully I will find a regular length, mid top conversion van that I can almost stand up in, that would be good enough. I'll just have to reduce the miles driven annually to save fuel.

For my current part-time situation the Prius camper, or Class "P" works, but only for a short time in an area where I can get out of it on a regular basis. While working 9 hours and having coffee shops or libraries to visit is fine, but extended bad weather or holidays where places are closed is tough to deal with without some sort of other shelter.

It's positives (fuel mileage 54+ in city, it's own power system, it's own a/c system, very stealthy, very well made car) are balanced off by the long-term stay negatives of a near total lack of side to side, front to back and up and down space, not to mention ground clearance when off road.

[John61CT]

My favorite idea is a big box truck conversion, or (fantasy) Unimog expedition setup.

Towing a dollied Prius.

Huge battery bank.
Great generator, very powerful but quiet.
Gas-fueled air conditioning and heat.

All that functionality is worth the price on its own.

Then you get for free:

Leave the home out in the boondocks, commute into the city to work and/or run town errands in the Prius.

[TWIH]

My favorite idea is a big box truck conversion,  or (fantasy) Unimog expedition setup.

Towing a dollied Prius.

Huge battery bank.
Great generator, very powerful but quiet.
Gas-fueled air conditioning and heat.

All that functionality is worth the price on its own.

Then you get for free:

Leave the home out in the boondocks, commute into the city to work and/or run town errands in the Prius.

just buy a salvage Prius that runs and strap it to a trailer, thats your generator...