Thread: Prius: It’s Not Just a Car, It’s an Emergency Generator

December 23, 2008, 9:58 am

Prius: It’s Not Just a Car, It’s an Emergency Generator
By Kate Galbraith
Which would you rather have in a winter emergency? (Photos: Toyota (top); Daniel Steger/OpenPhoto.net)
The Prius has a new use, and it does not involve driving. The Harvard Press — which serves the Massachusetts town of Harvard as opposed to the university — reported that the car’s battery helped keep the lights on for some locals during the recent ice storms.

The newspaper reports that John Sweeney, a resident who lost power, “ran his refrigerator, freezer, TV, woodstove fan and several lights through his Prius, for three days, on roughly five gallons of gas.â€

This is old technology, offroaders have been using inverters for years on their 4X4's so they can use aec welders in the back country.

Thanks MountainDog. I have to confess my ignorance as have never welded anything in my life.
But I had to laugh when I read that as on TV there was another report of Obama's Oahu power outage. Perhaps the Secret Service should keep a few Priuses around.

I have to make two comments.

1) It is because of these foreign auto makers Toyota and Honda that American Automakers are in the trouble that they are. They dont have to pay the pensions and retirement and medical that the Big 3 do.

2) The batteries on the Prius and the rest of the Hybrids have an average of 5 years of life. Wait until these people have to pay up to $5000 or more to replace the batteries on them, the Hybrid industry will be all but finished.

1) It is because of these foreign auto makers Toyota and Honda that American Automakers are in the trouble that they are. They dont have to pay the pensions and retirement and medical that the Big 3 do

No they are in trouble because they are greedy and out of touch and in bed with Big Oil.They sold us out long ago and moved to Mexico. Their loyalty is not to the America Public.

Originally Posted by April

1) It is because of these foreign auto makers Toyota and Honda that American Automakers are in the trouble that they are. They dont have to pay the pensions and retirement and medical that the Big 3 do

No they are in trouble because they are greedy and out of touch and in bed with Big Oil.They sold us out long ago and moved to Mexico. Their loyalty is not to the America Public.

Sorry April but you are wrong. The Big 3 sold what the American public wanted "Big SUVs and trucks". They moved some of their plants to Mexico because they were being held hostage by the UAW. They had no choice but to move some plants or go bankrupt. If you want to blame someone for being greedy, blame the unions that are as crooked as Chicago politics.

Originally Posted by wmarincic

Originally Posted by April

1) It is because of these foreign auto makers Toyota and Honda that American Automakers are in the trouble that they are. They dont have to pay the pensions and retirement and medical that the Big 3 do

No they are in trouble because they are greedy and out of touch and in bed with Big Oil.They sold us out long ago and moved to Mexico. Their loyalty is not to the America Public.

Sorry April but you are wrong. The Big 3 sold what the American public wanted "Big SUVs and trucks". They moved some of their plants to Mexico because they were being held hostage by the UAW. They had no choice but to move some plants or go bankrupt. If you want to blame someone for being greedy, blame the unions that are as crooked as Chicago politics.

Ya beat me to it wmarincic. The unions are one of the biggest problems in this country. You have to tow their line? I had to join the union at the steel mill I worked at back in the early 80s, and after they had us strike for a pay raise and other things the company could ill aford because of the economy of the time, over a third of us were put on permanent waivers less than a year later, but the union guys still had their jobs. I don't like labor unions as they are too closely associated with communism. I actually like the way Henry Ford approached it. The people building the cars need to earn enough so they can afford to buy what they make. That is why he was so militant against unions, and he foresaw what the UAW would become, and the damage it would do to the auto industry. Yep he was right. It's a shame too as our auto industries were one of the most innovative industries in the world.

Originally Posted by Hylander_1314

Originally Posted by wmarincic

Originally Posted by April

1) It is because of these foreign auto makers Toyota and Honda that American Automakers are in the trouble that they are. They dont have to pay the pensions and retirement and medical that the Big 3 do

No they are in trouble because they are greedy and out of touch and in bed with Big Oil.They sold us out long ago and moved to Mexico. Their loyalty is not to the America Public.

Sorry April but you are wrong. The Big 3 sold what the American public wanted "Big SUVs and trucks". They moved some of their plants to Mexico because they were being held hostage by the UAW. They had no choice but to move some plants or go bankrupt. If you want to blame someone for being greedy, blame the unions that are as crooked as Chicago politics.

Ya beat me to it wmarincic. The unions are one of the biggest problems in this country. You have to tow their line? I had to join the union at the steel mill I worked at back in the early 80s, and after they had us strike for a pay raise and other things the company could ill aford because of the economy of the time, over a third of us were put on permanent waivers less than a year later, but the union guys still had their jobs. I don't like labor unions as they are too closely associated with communism. I actually like the way Henry Ford approached it. The people building the cars need to earn enough so they can afford to buy what they make. That is why he was so militant against unions, and he foresaw what the UAW would become, and the damage it would do to the auto industry. Yep he was right. It's a shame too as our auto industries were one of the most innovative industries in the world.

The big three have had the capacity to make fuel efficient cars for years AND chose NOT too!!! AND yes they cater to Big oil I thought everyone knew that! Much of the American public buy Honda and Toyota because they last much much longer ( 300,000 mile vehicles, this I know for a fact) than the big 3 vehicles AND they chose to make fuel efficient cars. They catered to the American public and have for severals years while the big 3 chose not to! Unions are bad I know that, but to feel sorry for the big three is ludicrous IMO!!! They set themselves up for this! I shed no tears for them or any of the other greedy crooks. My sympathy is for the American public who ARE forced to bail out GREEDY crook after GREEDY crook!

April, again you are wrong.
First, I have a Ford truck that has 352,000 miles on it that I still use to plow my driveway in winter. My Chevy Monte Carlo has 170,000 miles on it with never a problem as a matter of fact I did not have to change the tires or do brakes until almost 80,000 miles. I drive alot, about 35000 miles a year. So to say that American cars are not as good as the Japanese is wrong. Also about 78% of the money from a Japanese car goes back to Japan, thank you.
Secondly, Again the companies build what the public want and the public for years has wanted SUVs period. It is kind of stupid to build something that the public does not want, dont you think? Also my 2003 Monte Carlo SS gets about 25 miles to the gallon on the highway and about 19 in the city which is more than the same size Toyota or Honda get, as a matter of fact American made cars get the same or better mileage than Japanese car's. As far as Hybrids go Ford has had the Escape Hybrid out as long if not longer than the Toyota Prius so there goes that argument.
As far as I'm concerned anyone who buys a Japanese car new is selling out America.

It is kind of stupid to build something that the public does not want, dont you think?

Yes that is why they went under because everyone wanted fuel efficient cars. They did not make fuel efficient cars because they were catering to oil companies and not the American public. You made my point their own stupidity put them under. I know many people who got tired of the gas guzzling poorly constructed autos they were putting out and they stopped buying them, which is freedom of choice.If they had been putting out a good product people would not have stopped buying them. As far as I am concerned the big 3 sold us out a long ago, and that is the opinion of many Americans, not just me. Do you work for the big three because, you sure talk like you do. Once again the only victims here are the American people, not the BIG 3. AS you recall the Big 3 CEOs arrived the first time to beg for the bailout in their corporate jets with no plan for the money but to take it and run, does that sound like they give a damn about the American public?