Electric vehicles during a disaster

   / Electric vehicles during a disaster #21  
Reminds me of my cousin Jeff. He lives outside Chicago and has a Tesla (the one with the gull wing doors, not sure the model but last winter he drove from his house to here, normally it takes 3.5 hours. Took him 5 because he had to stop on the way and charge his Tesla back up and when he got here, I had to 'plug him in', into my 220 volt outlet in the shop as his car was about empty again. Seems as though the heater really pulls down the range when it's cold outside.
 
   / Electric vehicles during a disaster #22  
I'm not an electrical "wizz", but I thought that charging was a 50 amp load or better. Wouldn't that take a 20 - 30 kW generator just for charging the EV, not to mention the house basic needs?
Depends on the charging method. Many electric vehicles will take low-amp charging as well as high amp fast charging. Tesla Superchargers are crazy fast (180amps) but the home charger goes up to about 50amp and down to about 15. Just takes longer to charge at lower draws.
 
   / Electric vehicles during a disaster #23  
Many of us grew up with internal combustion engines, and some of us understand their limitations; fill the tank before you run out of fuel, pullover if the oil light comes, ditto steam from the engine.

Not many are all the way up the learning curve for EVs, which is understandable. A machinist that I worked with 30 years ago was a serious EV fan, converting cars for others, racing them (he had a couple of records). I'm only now starting to catch up.

But we don't all drive F-350s, or Rams, or Silverados. We all made choices about works well for us personally. Why would you expect someone to drive the vehicle if they have a different set of opinions or needs? Not pick on a brand, but there was a dealer in my home town that had terrible service. If you wanted that brand of vehicle, you had to make peace with driving ninety miles to the dealer that their act together.

I own a couple of different vehicles, and I think of them as different strokes for different folks. Some we use to get groceries (short trip, all on electrical power), some I use for hauling up to 1.5T, and trailer 5T, some I can use to trailer 30T. They are built for different purposes, and I use them for different purposes. A know folks who have EVs with 300 mile ranges who happily go on long, multi-day road trips with them.

My car charges from our solar, so in the case of an earthquake or natural disaster, I can actually fuel up at home. That has its advantages sometimes, too. My car doesn't have the range that some other EVs do, and would definitely not be my choice for the vehicle to climb in and drive 250 miles at 15 miles per hour. Then again many internal combustion vehicles are going to have a tough time with that as well, without refueling.

If you need to do a run of 500 miles, I think that you plan ahead, choose your vehicle, and your fueling strategy- no matter what your energy source is.

Being caught in a traffic jam leaving town on the eve of a hurricane is my definition of not planning ahead. Either plan to stay, or get out. Hurricanes aren't earthquakes; you know when they are in the area, even if you don't know for sure how severe it will be.

As an example, we live in earthquake country and wildfire country, and have bug out bags packed always. Cars are kept at least half full of fuel, and we have fuel on hand to top them up if needed. Trucks and trailers are parked for rapid egress. We have food and water cached, just in case. To us, that is just prudent when you live in an area with natural hazards. I would never buy a house in tornado country without a basement or root cellar for similar reasons.

An EV as a bug out vehicle might not be optimal, but then again if you have solar at home, it might not be so bad either. It all depends on your particular needs, and what you are trying to prepare for/insure against. I have seen lots of gas stations closed after earthquakes, and not just for lack of power. I'm not saying all gas stations; some. So, it is a risk factor as well.

I have acquaintances with large generators and propane tanks to survive post-earthquake. Then we had a ten day cold snap and they ran their generator, and they discovered the hard way that the tank wasn't big enough, and forgotten that their propane supplier fills generator tanks only after all the heating needs are taken care of. They had to move out for several weeks. "Plan for your particular emergency"was the moral that I took from that experience.

All the best,

Peter
 
   / Electric vehicles during a disaster #24  
Over half (54%) of all new registered cars in Norway are EV’s,
…so obviously it’s impossible for EV’s to be a viable option in cold weather environments! “ iT cAn’T bE dOnE! “
At least America leads the world in something. Unfortunately it is “It’ll will never work” comments. Meanwhile the world…
 
   / Electric vehicles during a disaster #25  
Over half (54%) of all new registered cars in Norway are EV’s,
…so obviously it’s impossible for EV’s to be a viable option in cold weather environments! “ iT cAn’T bE dOnE! “
At least America leads the world in something. Unfortunately it is “It’ll will never work” comments. Meanwhile the world…
I find that interesting but Winter in Norway only lasts a little over 3 months. Ours lasts 7 or 8 months.
 
   / Electric vehicles during a disaster #26  
Over half (54%) of all new registered cars in Norway are EV’s,
…so obviously it’s impossible for EV’s to be a viable option in cold weather environments! “ iT cAn’T bE dOnE! “
At least America leads the world in something. Unfortunately it is “It’ll will never work” comments. Meanwhile the world…
When you moving to Norway?
 
   / Electric vehicles during a disaster #27  
Over half (54%) of all new registered cars in Norway are EV’s,
…so obviously it’s impossible for EV’s to be a viable option in cold weather environments! “ iT cAn’T bE dOnE! “
At least America leads the world in something. Unfortunately it is “It’ll will never work” comments. Meanwhile the world…

Norway isn’t even as big as the state of California. What works there might need be a viable solution for America. And making an electric car is the easy part. When they make an electric 747 that can fly from America to Norway then I’ll be impressed.
 
   / Electric vehicles during a disaster #28  
Over half (54%) of all new registered cars in Norway are EV’s,
…so obviously it’s impossible for EV’s to be a viable option in cold weather environments! “ iT cAn’T bE dOnE! “
At least America leads the world in something. Unfortunately it is “It’ll will never work” comments. Meanwhile the world…
That's because no one has to drive any distance in Norway - just a tiny country.

Last month I had to make a trip to Kansas City from my home in Nevada. Almost exactly 1500 miles one way. Crossing Wyoming on I-80 I passed 3 Teslas. Each was a traffic hazard - driving ~ 40 mph when everyone else was driving 80+ mph. Long way between towns - guess they were trying to "save" electricity.

I would have loved to have an EV back when I was still working and commuting every day. But other than commuting, driving an EV across Nevada/Utah/Wyoming where it is many miles between towns and there is no charging infrastructure in place yet...it would be a frustrating experience.
 
   / Electric vehicles during a disaster #29  
Crossing Wyoming on I-80 I passed 3 Teslas. Each was a traffic hazard - driving ~ 40 mph when everyone else was driving 80+ mph.
That's funny right there.... Sure it wasn't 45? 45 is the minimum speed on ANY Interstate highway. 80 is way too fast unless you have a large wallet and don't mind getting poor gas mileage, I'm one of those 'Hyper Miler' people. 65 = 40 + mpg.
 
   / Electric vehicles during a disaster #30  
That's funny right there.... Sure it wasn't 45? 45 is the minimum speed on ANY Interstate highway. 80 is way too fast unless you have a large wallet and don't mind getting poor gas mileage, I'm one of those 'Hyper Miler' people. 65 = 40 + mpg.
80 is the de facto minimum out here. The mileage difference is minimal, in my experience. Weather has a much bigger impact, as does elevation changes.
 
 
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