The right automobile can help you through Hurricane Sandy and the ongoing blackout affecting millions in the northeastern US. And we’re talking about more than using the 12-volt accessory socket to recharge your Blackberry. These three cars can make a significant impact on your quality of life when the power is out and gas is in short supply.

Nissan Leaf as a full-home generator

The Nissan Leaf electric vehicle could be the generator you forgot to buy. A pilot project in Japan, called Leaf-to-Home, takes the 24kW stored in the Leaf’s lithium-ion battery, and distributes it to the house as 120V current through a Nissan power control system (PCS).

In Japan, the average house uses 10-12kW a day, so that’s a two-day battery. Houses in the US typically draw a lot more power, but it could run a week if all you connect is the refrigerator, furnace, sump pump to empty water out of the basement, and low-demand electronics, like a modem or router.

In Nissan’s vision, on days when the utility company power is on and there’s high demand, the PCS would provide supplemental power when the utility company is almost maxed out, whether for a few seconds or an hour or two. A control box with its own batteries could gather power from a solar array during the day and use that to charge your Leaf at night.

Note the fine print: 1) Leaf-to-Home is a prototype (you’ve got to start somewhere), 2) it will focus initially on Leaf owners in Japan and 3) the cost of all the Leaf technology would be more than installing a 20kW Kohler generator and transfer switch (about $7,500-$10,000), especially if solar is involved. But Leaf-to-Home will wow the neighbors — just don’t bring your Leaf home uncharged the day of the storm.

Almost 800 miles on one tank: VW Passat TDI

The storm hits, the power goes out, it stays out, and when the weather clears everyone wants to fill up their cars at the few gas stations open. At that point you’re competing with the hordes carrying five-gallon cans to fuel their generators. Lines stretch more than two hours. The best car in America for avoiding those painfully long waits is the Volkswagen Passat. In diesel form, with a six-speed manual transmission, an 18.5-gallon tank, and 43 mpg highway rating, that’s a range of 796 miles, give or take. The automatic transmission version does 740 miles. Diesels are also more fuel efficient at idle, when you’re waiting to fill up for instance.

The Passat is one of the few vehicles that didn’t downsize its fuel tank when fuel economy improved. The Toyota Prius hybrid gets 48 mph (highway) but with an 11.9 gallon tank, the driving range is only 571 miles.

Other diesel engine vehicles with at least 650 miles of range include the Volkswagen Touareg and the Mercedes-Benz E-Class. You also want fewer fill-ups each month because diesel is still greasy (the pump handle and nozzle) and not quite aromatic. Diesel owners want to carry gloves or paper towels for fueling and never, ever let the nozzle brush light-colored clothes.

714 miles from a gas-engine, 332HP Chevy truck

An SUV or pickup truck with extended range fuel tanks also takes you a long way, say if you need to drive two states over to find a generator for sale. The champ here is the Chevrolet Silverado extended cab, a long-bed pickup with a 34-gallon (gasoline) tank. At 21 mpg, that’s 714 miles — just remember you’re looking at $120 fill-ups. And not only is the range great, this truck has 332 horsepower and 367 ft-lb of torque so it’ll be able to tow your boat or pull a downed tree out of the road without a second thought.

The gas-engine Ford Expedition XL SUV gets 20 mpg highway and with a 33.5-gallon tank, you’re good for as much as 670 miles on the highway. Among midsize gas-engine sedans, the Hyundai Sonata and Kia Optima twins go 688 miles on the highway. Both get 40 mpg and have 17.2 gallon tanks. And you can get a no-frills model for around $22,000.

As we’ve seen from Sandy, dealing with a storm and the subsequent power outage is all about conserving energy and keeping important tools powered. Your car is both an ideal source of power and a container to hold that power, so why not take advantage of it?

Read more: How to prepare your gadgets and electronic lifelines, for the next hurricane