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I believe ALL Toyota Prius models, even the "Plug-In" model, also have standard ICEs (Internal Combustion Engines). If bad weather is in the forecast, it's always prudent to fill the gas tanks of your vehicles. Unless you're doing marathon driving, a tank of gas in a Prius should keep you going for ~ two weeks. That should be more than enough time for power to be restored. If you want to be a "belt & suspenders" guy, when you fill the Prius tank, fill one or two 5 gallon jerry cans with regular gas. When the crisis has passed, just pour the extra gas into your Prius (wait until the fuel gauge shows LESS than half full so you'll be able to completely empty a jerry can).
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I am not sure this tech is ready yet, but some car chargers and some EV cars may be able to run in reverse and use the car to power the house. At least, our utility company seems to be offering something like this, but I can't tell if they currently have the ability to use the car for power. So, unless you need this right now this year, you may want to wait, pick the right electric car, use of your already built in outlets, and get a charger/inverter for the house that actually does exactly this.
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I think this may be a cleaner/greener alternative to a generator as well, given the pollution controls on a modern vehicle.
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There may be restrictions regarding wind generators. But, Vancouver Island may have quite a bit of wind being right on the ocean.
As a side note, your Yaris may be noisy because of the tires. We had a Volvo XC70 that always had a bit of road noise with the OEM Pirelli Scorpions. When they needed replacing, I bought Goodyear Assurance tires and it was like we got a brand new car! Turns out the Pirelli's were the reason for the noise.
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My cranky old man reaction would be to not willingly invite problems and complexity —- live somewhere else that has basic, modern infrastructure.
But it could be fun to design a solution with using a car, especially if it happens to be at home and stay at home when needed.
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We have also talked about making our next car a Prius (or similar) and plugging the car into the house as a power source when needed..
I think this is a great idea that I've never heard of.
Can the Prius be used as an inverter? I would have assumed that it's battery would be the power source for an inverter. It's be interesting to know how long the battery could power your life support system before needing to be charged.
A generator is a time honored and proven solution but preparing for several days of outage means having a lot of gas cans on hand. Or presumably getting to a gas station might be possible even if you don't have AC.
As you note, you wouldn't have to be running the car or a generator full time even if the outage lasted several days.
If you're considering a Prius anyway, planning on using it as a temporary power source makes sense. I just wouldn't get a Prius or any plug-in for that reason alone.
