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Toyota has unveiled a new vehicle-to-home (V2H) system this week that allows its Prius Plug-in Hybrid to share battery power with the owner's household.
Developed as part of Toyota's City Low-Carbon Verification Project, launched in 2010, the technology sees the new Prius Plug-in paired with an AC100V inverter.
The combination is controlled by a home energy management system, generating low-carbon electricity and storing it in the car's battery pack.
This energy can then be converted into AC power, used by the home during peak hours. The vehicle's batteries can also be used as an emergency power source, and Toyota says this arrangement can power the average Japanese household for four days.
The technology will be trialled in Toyota City, Japan, later this year, with all Prius PHEV households in the program exchanging power between their vehicles and homes.
A similar system was revealed by rival carmaker Nissan in 2011, which saw the brand's Leaf electric vehicle power a home outside its headquarters for two days.
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Filed under: Toyota, prius, toyota Prius, News, toyota prius phev, toyota prius plug-in hybrid, vehicle-to-home, v2h
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1 year ago
One the other hand, powering the house from the car during a blackout sounds like a great idea.
There is an issue with rooftop panels that the electricity authorities require the panels to switch off in the case of an outage. This is a safety issue - it would otherwise be possible for the panels to energise the public lines, causing a hazard to repair people. The same would probably apply to a car-powered system.