[remy_martian]

It's going to suck for power output, with about a 77% power reduction, so why would this friend do this?

 

[remy_martian]

It's not a waste of power. The power used and the output are reduced by about 77%. The motor will likely be much larger and heavier for the output it produces at the lower voltages than a 220V three phase with that same output.