After World War II, tons of surplus Jeeps were sold to the public.
But Willy's, maker of the Jeep, wanted to create a domestic market for new Jeeps. So, one of the bold ideas was to market it as a farm vehicle, one that could haul wagons, pull a plow, run belt-driven machines and even have a power-take-off to run mechanized tow-behinds, such as mowers. Learn more at Farmjeep.com.
The marketing pitch was something like ... drive the Jeep to church on Sunday, plow a field Monday morning, haul goods to market on Tuesday. It was really a great idea to get maximum utility out of a vehicle. See a full size version of the above ad here.
That got me thinking about my recent post on using the Prius in lieu of a home generator. With its powerful, long-lasting 200-volt battery, the Prius can run appliances with the gas engine kicking in only occasionally to recharge the battery.
The only problem with doing this is a typical 12-volt DC-AC inverter will only power about 300 watts, or enough to run some lights, a small TV and the like. To run larger appliances like a furnace, refrigerator, etc., you need to tap directly into the 273-volt battery, and this sort of inverter runs up to $1,000. Not only that, but you might void your warranty doing this trick.
So, wouldn't it be great if Toyota offered a Prius with the option of an AC plug-in, as it does with its Tacoma TRD truck? That truck offers 400 watts at 115 volts, with a convenient plug in the truck's bed. Surely Toyota could get some decent watts out of a 273-volt battery.
And that got me thinking more. Why not take the guts of a Prius but make the body more like a small delivery truck? Using an even more powerful engine and battery, this kind of vehicle could function as a mobile workshop. You could run an arc welder. You could run any number of power tools.
Or, the vehicle could be made into a mini refrigerated truck, perfect for deliveries to small restaurants.
There are a number of ways Toyota could go with this, and it's not limited to the Prius body. Put a hybrid system into a truck or van and you've got something that a contractor could use.
The point is, hybrid technology should be extended out to those who can use it in their businesses. Seems like a practical notion to me.
And, by the way, these sorts of practical hybrids shouldn't be limited to Toyota. Bring it on, Detroit!
As a treat, here is a video of an antique farm Jeep in action.
Here's a modern Jeep pulling a plow (I couldn't find video of an old one doing this).
And here's one being used to run an ice-cream maker. Hey, who said it was all about work?
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