Anyone tried the "Utility" mode?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Lars
  • Start date Start date
  • Replies Replies 5
  • Views Views 2K
Lars

Lars

Well-Known Member
I only have my 2021 Preferred for ten days so I am still learning.
Reading the manual I found Utility mode stetting. It intrigues me. Can I use it to power my house (at least partially)?
I have a 1000W DC/AC Pure Sine inverter. A few days before a Christmas past the lights went out in the hood! I connected inverter to the 12V battery of my Prius, cut the Main Breaker and fed the AC output from the inverter into the house from my garage outlet. (This trick provided power to 1/2 of the house, obviously.) We had the only house with some lights on and the Xmas lights bright and shiny. (Having all LEDs made it possible.) When the 12V battery needed a recharge the engine of the Prius stared up - yes, outside of the garage - and ran ON/OFF as needed. (Could keep the furnace running OR the fridge - not both. )

I figure now I have a 64kW battery, which could replace the gas engine of the Prius to keep the 12V battery juiced as needed.

On the other hand I wonder if I could use the 'Utility' feature somehow. Not sure it could handle the load though.
 
Lars said:
I only have my 2021 Preferred for ten days so I am still learning.
Reading the manual I found Utility mode stetting. It intrigues me. Can I use it to power my house (at least partially)?
I have a 1000W DC/AC Pure Sine inverter. A few days before a Christmas past the lights went out in the hood! I connected inverter to the 12V battery of my Prius, cut the Main Breaker and fed the AC output from the inverter into the house from my garage outlet. (This trick provided power to 1/2 of the house, obviously.) We had the only house with some lights on and the Xmas lights bright and shiny. (Having all LEDs made it possible.) When the 12V battery needed a recharge the engine of the Prius stared up - yes, outside of the garage - and ran ON/OFF as needed. (Could keep the furnace running OR the fridge - not both. )

I figure now I have a 64kW battery, which could replace the gas engine of the Prius to keep the 12V battery juiced as needed.

On the other hand I wonder if I could use the 'Utility' feature somehow. Not sure it could handle the load though.
Click to expand...
Read this one probably the best application so far. Personally I do use it for back up to run the fan on my wood burning fireplace in an emergency but only plugging in to the 12 V accessory outlet at a 100 W draw far less than the 180 W max the outlet is rated for.
https://insideevsforum.com/communit...-battery-backup-utility-mode.8589/#post-96560
 
Is anyone else using it for "dog mode"? It feels reasonably safe, with the vehicle immobilized and the air blasting, at least for me. I wish it didn't require getting out the hard key to lock the vehicle though.
 
EVOwnerFromDownThere said:
Is anyone else using it for "dog mode"? It feels reasonably safe, with the vehicle immobilized and the air blasting, at least for me. I wish it didn't require getting out the hard key to lock the vehicle though.
Click to expand...

I do use it for dog mode, not the most convenient way but it works. Hope Hyundai adds it in the future.
 
When you hooked up the 12v lead acid battery, you showed you have more electrical knowledge than most people. Although the Kona has a utility mode that can run your vehicle accessories for quite a time, I would not recommend the general public venture into this use. It is not designed to power at this level. Even what you did, much could go wrong. There is no high amperage output port I am aware of and the main battery pack is 356vdc as opposed to the required 12v your inverter used. To run 1000 watts at 12vdc you would be handling almost 90 amps. For 240vac it would roughly double. You were lucky you didn't damage the electrical system in the Prius. 90 amps of 12vdc takes some heavy wire to not cause a fire. Do you know if your inverter was 60 hertz. Many would not know this. In Europe 50 hertz is mostly used. This can damage electronic equipment and can burn out electrical motors. Another problem is not all inverters are made equal. Yours was pure sine wave but many are modified sine wave. These often do not work with sensitive electronics. Sorry about the lecture but it is important that this not be attempted by non professionals. Improperly done could easily damage the car's charging system and without safeguards could be dangerous.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top