3 ms·
If you actually want to camp comfortably out of a car, you want a Prius all day, every day. Number 1 Killer feature: Climate control! You can run the AC all ni
by smeej 5y ago
If you actually want to camp comfortably out of a car, you want a Prius all day, every day.
Number 1 Killer feature: Climate control! You can run the AC all night with the car in "Ready" mode ("on and in park" in most other vehicles) and the car will only kick the gas engine on for 30-60 seconds every 5-10 mins (depending on how hot it is outside). You'll probably go through less than a gallon of gas overnight.
The next bonus is how easy it is to run an inverter off the 12v battery, which the hybrid battery and engine will also recharge as needed. You can even run a microwave in the car! Plus, having a 2000W pure sine wave inverter is a great way to provide back-up power to some of your household appliances in a power outage if you need to. The Prius is a more efficient generator than most made for that purpose!
If you want to go further down the rabbit hole, look for "Prius camping" or "hotel Prius" keywords. You'll even find clever solutions for bathing and eliminating waste if it's imperative to you to do that within the vehicle itself!
Just remember it's "living out of a Prius" not "living in a Prius." It's a base of operations and a safe place to sleep, not something you want to stay inside for days on end.
- joelbondurant 5y agoSame argument applies to any of the dozens of hybrid vehicles.
- polynomial 5y agoGiven that a Prius is so efficient in this regard, how feasible is it to adopt its energy system for a camper? (ie an actual RV?) Would there be advantages? Is anyone working on this?
- mikestew 5y ago"Actual RVs" have room for a big-ass house battery and solar panels. Depending on the rig, a lot of RVs already have a generator that is more efficient than a Prius' engine. But, since the roof has room for 400W of solar panels, combined with said big-ass battery we rarely use our generator. So I doubt there's much reason for pursuing such an option.