While its obviously impossible that any of us laymen would be able to conjure up the apparatus necessary for doing the same, John Sweeney is an electrical engineer. With nothing to do during the storm, he decided to see if his idea of powering the house using his hybrid car was possible.

He dug up an inverter which made 120v AC from 12v DC current and he wired it into the hybrid electric Prius and then there was light. The hybrid car made enough electricity to run the essentials; the fridge, the lights, the TV, the wood-stove fan. During the power outage, it supplied 17 Kilowatt hours of energy to his home for three days.

Readers should note that as long as it has fuel, the Prius can produce at least three kilowatts of continuous power, which is adequate to maintain a home’s basic functions. This technique is known as the vehicle 2 grid technology.

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