Electric vehicles during a disaster

[CobyRupert]

When you moving to Norway?

I post statistics about how EV’s can, and ARE, being used in cold countries that the Article Circle runs through, and your response is a personal non sequitur?

That’s ok, I guess when the facts don’t match a person’s notions, trying to make it personal about the messenger, or change the subject, rather than the brain trying to resolve contradictory information is a human tendency. I might be wrong, but I think that’s called cognitive dissonance.

As been stated before, when discussing political or controversial subjects that are allowed again here on TBN, it’s important to stick to facts and the topic, and not make it personal.

 

[Dftodd]

Your experience flies in the face of wind resistance. Common sense tells you that the wind resistance is much less at 65 than it is at 80 and wind resistance is the main contributor to poor fuel mileage. Your wallet, not mine. I prefer to get good fuel mileage rather than driving at warp factor one. Again, the minimum speed on any Interstate highway is 45 (if you bother to read the speed limit signs, don't matter what the top posted speed is, that is a Federal law.

65 works for me just fine. Never been in that big of a hurry anyway. I just leave in time to get to my destination on time.

My truck averages 22 mpg on the highway. Doesn't matter if I'm doing 65 or 80.

What kills me is the 5 miles of stop and go traffic once I get off the interstate.

 

[Dftodd]

Like I said, the scourge of commuters everywhere.

I encounter a couple of those tater heads on the interstate on my commute to and from work. Average traffic speed is 80mph.

Then you encounter that one idiot in the hammer lane needing to remove their head from their rectum.

 

[marhar]

Wonder what happens to those lithium battery cars when they get submerged in flood water?

I too do not know. I did have an old farm truck parked in a bottom field that flooded. Motor locked up and it cost a bundle to get it repaired. I assume an EV under water would also be catastrophic.

 

[sandman2234]

I encounter a couple of those tater heads on the interstate on my commute to and from work. Average traffic speed is 80mph.

Then you encounter that one idiot in the hammer lane needing to remove their head from their rectum.

What will happen if all the trucks are mandated to drive 60 or 65 like is currently being considered? Not only tick off the truck drivers, but also the people doing 80 plus in cars!
My thoughts are, if the mandate speed control for trucks, the same should apply for cars and pickups!
David from jax

 

[civilian]

What will happen if all the trucks are mandated to drive 60 or 65 like is currently being considered? Not only tick off the truck drivers, but also the people doing 80 plus in cars!
My thoughts are, if the mandate speed control for trucks, the same should apply for cars and pickups!
David from jax

Haven't heard that. Michigan just raised truck speed from 60 to 65. Travelling to Wyoming on I80, further west truck and car sppeds limits are 70, then 75, and some 80. Ohio and some of PA is 70 for both. Jon

 

[Dftodd]

What will happen if all the trucks are mandated to drive 60 or 65 like is currently being considered? Not only tick off the truck drivers, but also the people doing 80 plus in cars!
My thoughts are, if the mandate speed control for trucks, the same should apply for cars and pickups!
David from jax

I'm just reporting on average traffic speeds. Then encountering some idiot in the hammer lane doing 10 under the speed limit when they have 2 other lanes they can be an idiot in.

Truck speed limits were just raised to 70mph, smaller vehicles it's 75.

I

 

[npalen]

Your experience flies in the face of wind resistance. Common sense tells you that the wind resistance is much less at 65 than it is at 80 and wind resistance is the main contributor to poor fuel mileage. Your wallet, not mine. I prefer to get good fuel mileage rather than driving at warp factor one. Again, the minimum speed on any Interstate highway is 45 (if you bother to read the speed limit signs, don't matter what the top posted speed is, that is a Federal law.

65 works for me just fine. Never been in that big of a hurry anyway. I just leave in time to get to my destination on time.

It's easy enough to see the fuel savings due to lower MPH and/or wind direction if your vehicle shows the current MPG. It's quite a revelation.

 

[Torvy]

Speed limits in Texas are as high as 85 in some places.

For any of you who drive slowly, please remain in your state and out of TX...or at least stay off the highway.

 

[notaz3]

About once a month we find a Tesla sitting on the side of the road waiting on the tow truck because they over estimated the distance between charge stations. 110 degree weather can zap a battery.
For now I'll stick with our hybrids for running around and trucks for work and hauling. Not ready for pure EV.
Would love to get the new Ford Lightning if it could tow our trailer the 1,200 miles we run every two months.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

I don't commute, I'm retired. When I have to go somewhere, I leave in ample time to get there....and my freeway speed is always 65 or just above that and I maintain my vehicle properly and actually check the air in the tires weekly. Something that is alien to a lot of people, including tractor owners. last time I checked here in Michigan the truck speed limit was 65.

Just stay in the far right lane and you're fine.

 

[Raul-02]

I was listening to the radio today. An interesting topic came up. How would the people in Florida evacuate for hurricane in electric vehicles. it wouldn’t take much for the charging stations to be overwhelmed leaving thousands of motorists stranded as the storm approached.

The second part of the problem would be how do you function without a power grid to charge your electric vehicles. As of now I’ve seen the gas stations bring in generators to run the gas pumps. I don’t think there’s enough generators to recharge all the cars.

I then got to thinking about up north in the winter time and an ice storm/snow storm could also disable the power grid for a long time. One could also add in the problems with tornadoes and floods.

I thought it was an interesting question for all the greenies out there.

Oh that's easy. Rig a turbine to the exhaust and drive a generator with that and you will never need to recharge ever again.
Right? That's physics right?

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

In Austin, when summer hit hard early (May), the grid was hitting max levels. They were asking people to conserve, up their thermostats, etc. The radio talk show brought up the topic of charging cars when you typically get home from work at 5-6pm. Many different aspects were brought up. Peoples' ire was definitely worked up.
1) People agreed that EV's should get charged in the wee hours of the morning, not during peak hours.
2) EV's use roughly the equivalent of 3 mid sized homes HVAC systems when charging.
3) Austin Electric had a program over the last 2 decades of giving out free HVAC thermostats that would "save you money", by cutting off your A/C for a period during 5-9pm No matter what.
4) EV owners should buy their own solar power array anyway to complete the Green cycle, so that no hydrocarbons are burned to charge their cars.
5) people griped about the environmental destruction of Lithium mining, and the end of use pollution of the batteries going into the ground.
6) Even Elon Musk has said there's not enough electricity currently to charge the number of EV's anticipated.

I would love to have one, for a 3rd vehicle, for my commute....if only they were cheap and my employer would let me re-charge at work....

 

[ponytug]

In Austin, when summer hit hard early (May), the grid was hitting max levels. They were asking people to conserve, up their thermostats, etc. The radio talk show brought up the topic of charging cars when you typically get home from work at 5-6pm. Many different aspects were brought up. Peoples' ire was definitely worked up.
1) People agreed that EV's should get charged in the wee hours of the morning, not during peak hours.
2) EV's use roughly the equivalent of 3 mid sized homes HVAC systems when charging.
3) Austin Electric had a program over the last 2 decades of giving out free HVAC thermostats that would "save you money", by cutting off your A/C for a period during 5-9pm No matter what.
4) EV owners should buy their own solar power array anyway to complete the Green cycle, so that no hydrocarbons are burned to charge their cars.
5) people griped about the environmental destruction of Lithium mining, and the end of use pollution of the batteries going into the ground.
6) Even Elon Musk has said there's not enough electricity currently to charge the number of EV's anticipated.

I would love to have one, for a 3rd vehicle, for my commute....if only they were cheap and my employer would let me re-charge at work....

Well, to your last point, they are getting cheaper. The Chevy Bolt is around $30k, and the Nissan Leaf starts at under $30k. Both would do great for 90% of American car trips, per @CobyRupert's post above.

Most EV owners that I know charge in the middle of the night; rates are lower, so I am personally doubtful that more than a couple of idiots are actually charging during peak hours, especially hereabouts. Even though I plug in my hybrid when I get home, it doesn't charge until the rates drop, which is at midnight here, though in the summertime, it charges off of solar during the day, all by programming the car. Now that I think about way more than half of the EV owners that I know around here own solar as well. (No idea how representative that is. Purely an anecdote.)

I'm envious of the EV owners in Texas who have free nights and weekend electricity rates. As an example of unintended consequences, and uninformed risk taking by consumers, I find the whole Texas electricity market and electricity production fascinating.

At the moment, our solar powered batteries are backing up the grid as part of 2,341 solar/battery owners who volunteered to supply power during peak demand times (we are in a heat wave at the moment). Apparently a little over 16MW of stored solar is flowing back to help the grid distributed across California.

For sure the country needs more power to be able to replace gasoline. Change takes time, especially for large infrastructure projects, like energy and water. In principle, have lots of EVs could/should stabilize the grid through varying demand. Water is a different story.

Rome wasn't built in a day; I am sure that EVs are going to evolve into lots of different niches, and the infrastructure will take awhile to get built out.

Once you get one, you realize just how inexpensive they are to run per mile. Really inexpensive.

All the best,

Peter

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Well, to your last point, they are getting cheaper. The Chevy Bolt is around $30k, and the Nissan Leaf starts at under $30k. Both would do great for 90% of American car trips, per @CobyRupert's post above.

Most EV owners that I know charge in the middle of the night; rates are lower, so I am personally doubtful that more than a couple of idiots are actually charging during peak hours, especially hereabouts. Even though I plug in my hybrid when I get home, it doesn't charge until the rates drop, which is at midnight here, though in the summertime, it charges off of solar during the day, all by programming the car. Now that I think about way more than half of the EV owners that I know around here own solar as well. (No idea how representative that is. Purely an anecdote.)

I'm envious of the EV owners in Texas who have free nights and weekend electricity rates. As an example of unintended consequences, and uninformed risk taking by consumers, I find the whole Texas electricity market and electricity production fascinating.

At the moment, our solar powered batteries are backing up the grid as part of 2,341 solar/battery owners who volunteered to supply power during peak demand times (we are in a heat wave at the moment). Apparently a little over 16MW of stored solar is flowing back to help the grid distributed across California.

For sure the country needs more power to be able to replace gasoline. Change takes time, especially for large infrastructure projects, like energy and water. In principle, have lots of EVs could/should stabilize the grid through varying demand. Water is a different story.

Rome wasn't built in a day; I am sure that EVs are going to evolve into lots of different niches, and the infrastructure will take awhile to get built out.

Once you get one, you realize just how inexpensive they are to run per mile. Really inexpensive.

All the best,

Peter

For those backing up the grid, they should repay y'all the same peek demand rates they charge you, and drop the basic hookup fees. Not the wholesale rate. It saves them a fortune not having to build more plants. They could raise the peak demand rates to the users to cover their transmission costs.

 

[Citydude]

I post statistics about how EV’s can, and ARE, being used in cold countries that the Article Circle runs through, and your response is a personal non sequitur?

That’s ok, I guess when the facts don’t match a person’s notions, trying to make it personal about the messenger, or change the subject, rather than the brain trying to resolve contradictory information is a human tendency. I might be wrong, but I think that’s called cognitive dissonance.

As been stated before, when discussing political or controversial subjects that are allowed again here on TBN, it’s important to stick to facts and the topic, and not make it personal.

So your snide remark about America leading the world in "I can't or it will never be done" gets a pass? No one can challenge your statements? I stand by my question to you. That's the facts.

 

[Agvg]

A few days? From what I can see, Norway is about 1000 miles long north to south. It is not unusual for me to drive 1000 miles in one day. Never been to Norway, but different driving conditions I'm sure. I set the cruise at 82 mph (about 132 kph) and drive till I need a break or fuel. Many places I can see the highway for 20 miles down the road, and traffic is minimal.
View attachment 758652

As of yet, EV charging stations are hard to find.

View attachment 758653

Well, here roads are not straight or flatt, it really takes time to drive.

 

[Hay Dude]

Just drove the entire length of PA and continued west to Columbus, OH to see my daughter play at Ohio State.
Just “going with traffic” we were doing 90-95 like it was nothing.
Going 75 was slowing traffic down and felt like 45.

 

[92blacksunshine]

I'm a lineman for a large electric company... there is no way our system can handle a large amount of EV's charging at one time... heck, if we get a series of 90+° days,we have transformers overheating.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Are people who evacuate really going that far? What's the typical evacuation? 50 miles maybe? Unlike an ICE, an EV does not use power unless it's moving, so getting stuck in a huge traffic jam is just a delay.