anyone measure the max sustained "generator" output?

[dberns]

given the concerns about emergency landline power, I'm looking more and more at using the Insight as a backup power source.

I've already got a basic 12VDC -> (pseudo) 120VAC 150 or so watt inverter, which I use for misc small items (laptop, etc.).

I was wondering what the sustained maximum power draw I could pull off the 12V side (basically with a battery clamp) would be? In other words, how much power is generated, and converted to 12V, when the engine is in idle mode? Inverters up to 500 watts, or even a kw, are cheap enough to be thinking about.

Anyone have figures? Thanks.

Oh, and for good measure, _someone_ must have the gals/hour when idling...

(This is for emergency backup power so I'm not too worried about the efficiency losses in the various conversion steps).

Thanks.

[IamIan]

Related Thread:
Current coming from DC-DC converter:
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=7740&p=68757#p68757

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Of course there is AC coming off the IMA motor.... with some work that could be filtered to house hold AC.... that can give you up to ~10,000 Watts AC ... for surges... and I doubt it has any problem keeping up at about ~4,000 Watts for as long as you have gasoline in the tank.

In Idle & Neutral ... The highest I have seen for regen... as been about ~15 Amps at ~170V... or ~2,550 Watts... sustained rate.

I've run my 600 Watt 12V DC to 110V AC Inverter by tapping directly to the 12V battery under the hood.... I did not think that the 12V outlet in the car would handle the possible ~50Amps ... the Fuse is too small.. so I just tapped to the 12V battery directly.... Regen in idle came on... and when I was using a sustained rate of ~25 Amps from the 12V ... the idle Regen Function seem to keep up with it with no problem... I suspect the DC-DC as the thread above discusses... can do more.

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If you are feeling up to a dangerous life and car threatening option:

Many DC to AC Inverters function by first stepping up the low voltage 12VDC to higher Voltage DC... then they in a separate stage or part of the unit invert the now high Voltage DC to AC.... Using this idea... you could try and tap into the high voltage part and feed it with the high voltage of the Insight's 120 cell battery pack... this would not only improve your efficiency... but would also allow you to take massive AC hits.... Remember that 120 cell pack can dish out ~100 Amps ... over 10,000 Watts for a short period of time ( ~2 minutes at most ) ... plus the constant recharging of the IMA system to balance out between such massive spikes.