Don't hold your breath.  Mark Cherry came up with a method of using a low compression platinum wire catalyst "smart plug" and then proved that high water alcohol fuels could even be burned with it. They burn at a lower temperature and thus have virtually no nitrous oxides or other pollutants.  He called it smartplugs. 

http://smartplugs.com
http://smartplugs.com/fuels/aqueousfuels.htm

He got no takers but a Darpa one fuels forward program funding for some work.
There was zero interest in his development by any engine manufacturer.
I built a version based on his patent for a 2 hp Honda 4 cycle outboard I converted to run on methanol, for my West Wight Potter sailboat. It allowed me to remove the magneto/spark system and just use a 2V battery for starting only.  I had to modify the carburetor and raise the compression, but with that, it ran quite well.  Methanol takes about twice the fuel flow volume for the same power as gasoline. 

Mark's work with high water content alcohol and other fuels used a modest current to heat the platinum element.  He also used that DC current to the platinum elements in later work to provide ignition advance for acceleration. 

A good idea, even with working hardware, independent test data, etc. was not enough to overcome institutional resistance to change.  Concern about pollution is only a marketing game. 
There's zero chance the EPA will let non-compliant diesel engines be sold as alcohol only burners. 

I only knew Quin from his early Listeroid rebuild pioneering and posts.  They were always something I enjoyed and appreciated as a retired engineer (EE/CS).  He was exceptionally capable and wrote like a professional.  After reading his obituary I  wish I'd been able to meet him and know him better.  Quin had some serious breadth and depth of knowledge.
I'm saddened that his retirement was way, way too short.

This video is unfortunately lacking in legitimate technical information, nothing about what he's doing for BMS/cell balancing, or how he divided up the high voltage packs.  Seems he's set up for a nominal 48V inverter/battery bank, but that's not clearly presented either.  He states he has only put this battery bank together a week ago; so has zero meaningful experience.

His diagram showing Volt and other battery packs in parallel is wildly misleading- the stock packs are high voltage and must therefor be reconfigured to a nominal 48V, if that is what his Magnum inverter is designed for.  I don't know the voltage of the stock battery sub-assemblies of cells are; he has left out all the useful information.

Hi Tanman,
I'm not familiar with the Prius Plus battery packs and their BMS, but note that they are high voltage (>200V)  batteries that could not be directly used with standard off grid 24 or 48V input inverters and PV charge regulators.

Have you found a home power system that is directly compatible and interfaces to the BMS system so you can monitor battery pack health and balance?  Rebuilding a new battery with the old cells to make a lower voltage battery with a new BMS would be possible but is a significant technical effort.

Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries are more appealing to me due to much better fire safety.  There are some server rack LFP battery systems that are more home power system suitable; they have a built in BMS and are directly compatible with 24 or 48V input inverters and PV charge regulators.

Best Wishes,
Bruce

Glad you got her going with some savy heroics, Hugh. Well done, and no ether.  I'm a glow plug fan myself.
I did try some 5W-30 synthetic oil one winter; it made a big difference in cranking speed, and hand crank force required when the temps got to -17C.  I ran enough hours then to warrant a thinner winter oil.

I'm forecast for a couple nights around 0F (-18C) in a few days.  With luck it will be sunny and I won't have to start the Listeroid.  I used it this cloudy morning for laundry, it did a remote start without complaint.  At 0 F, I must walk over the hill and unstrap the air compressor and ST-3 and start it bare to warm up, then restart with belts on. The glow plug is a big help in cold weather.  The GAST 4AM with rubber roller just doesn't have the torque needed for cranking at 0F with the air compressor on...it is a 3 cylinder model and is very stuff at 0F. 



 

+1, Its a genset rpm variation. Intermittent belt slip might also also be a cause of the frequency change. 
The ST head with stock harmonic excitation will vary voltage with rpm change. 

You will sometimes get bogus frequency readings from an ST head due to the "harmonic hump" distortion of the waveform caused by the harmonic winding in the single phase ST heads.  It will show as a frequency way, way off from 60Hz nominal so is quite unlikely in your case, Steve.  It varies wildly between units.  Another good reason to have one of the cheap hand held digital oscilloscopes in your tool kit.  Seeing a waveform can really help with troubleshooting all kinds of things.

Best Wishes,
Bruce

I concur with Cobadog; as long as the smart battery charges (switching power supplies) are isolated type supplies, then yes, each can charge batteries that are connected in series. An isolated supply (aka transformer isolated) means it acts like a separate power source, like a separate battery.  It does not matter that the battery being charged may be at some elevated DC voltage relative to earth.

I use 3 smart chargers to charge my direct battery powered DC stick welder.  It uses 3 batteries in series, 2 are 12V, one 6V. The 6V is golf cart type, much larger capacity and a much higher (2A) float current.  The three smart chargers connect with the batteries still connected together in series.  It works fine.  It also trickle charges just fine on three small linear power supplies that I run whenever I've got my main battery bank inverter on.  Again, the trick being to have transformer isolated supplies so each can float to the right voltage level relative to the others.  Just for a thought experiment, if I was to take the welder ground cable, and connect that to the +120V battery bank, they will all still charge just the same as they would when either grounded at some point or floating (no earth reference at all).  This is a bit of a head bender, but if you work with transformers or batteries a lot you get used to it.  Some experimenting with small batteries and chargers on the bench will help.  Even if the battery is negative relative to ground, it works.  So "it's all relative" applies here.

You can also do the same thing with PV, though with lots of copper wire cost and some losses.  For example, you can charge four 12V batteries in series (48V) with four 12V PV panels, and 4 PV charge controllers.  The batteries could be different sizes and types, and as long as you don't use more amp hours than the smallest can safely handle, it will work fine.

With higher voltage strings, it becomes impractical to manage the number of charge current carrying wires and chargers.  The Rudman type shunt regulator design approach then becomes appealing since it lets you charge similar batteries in series with a single charger.

I hope this helps.

Best Wishes,
Bruce