EV in a hurricane evacuation

[ChasingCoral]

Just another example showing how “some people would be fine.”

The point I keep making is how this wouldn’t work for millions evacuating…..which is what happens with every major hurricane. Everyone driving EVs and millions evacuating just isn’t a feasible formula.

And the charging infrastructure that would be required to make it feasible……. Also isn’t feasible.

Yeah, if current infrastructure isn’t enough to solve the problem for millions it’s a dumb idea, right?

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[Mach1E]

Yeah, if current infrastructure isn’t enough to solve the problem for millions it’s a dumb idea, right?

Huh?

Not the point I’m making.

It’s more a point that millions can’t evacuate in BEVs. And the infrastructure that would be required to allow for millions to evacuate in BEVs would be astronomical.

Bottom line? Because of hurricane evacuation needs in Florida, I don’t see a path forward to move towards full BEV adoption.

It’s a unique geographical problem, but it’s still a huge problem. Can’t build a cruise ship without enough life boats for everyone.

 

[Tampamike]

Just another example showing how “some people would be fine.”

The point I keep making is how this wouldn’t work for millions evacuating…..which is what happens with every major hurricane. Everyone driving EVs and millions evacuating just isn’t a feasible formula.

And the charging infrastructure that would be required to make it feasible……. Also isn’t feasible.

It wouldn’t work NOW for millions of EV’s but it worked NOW for the EV’s in Florida today. There’s plenty of power before the storm. There were gas stations out of gas already on Sunday evening. On the return, again, there were many gas stations without gas but the power was operable on the routes in. By the time there are millions of EV’s there should be an infrastructure to support them.

 

[Mach1E]

It wouldn’t work NOW for millions of EV’s but it worked NOW for the EV’s in Florida today. There’s plenty of power before the storm. There were gas stations out of gas already on Sunday evening. On the return, again, there were many gas stations without gas but the power was operable on the routes in. By the time there are millions of EV’s there should be an infrastructure to support them.

It worked NOW for some EVs in Florida. But only if you didn’t evacuate far.

Heading to Georgia for Helene or Milton wouldn’t have been possible for me in my Mach E.

It would be completely unrealistic to create enough infrastructure for millions of EVs to evacuate.

The only way EV infrastructure works is if most charging is done at home.

“In case of emergency,” millions evacuating would require millions to DC charge on the road at the same time.

I’m sure someone could do the real math, but guessing that would require 10x or more DC chargers than we would normally need.

I don’t think we should waste that kinda money building 10x as many DC chargers as any other state for the once or twice a year we need a mass evacuation in Florida.

Yes, gas stations ran out of gas. But they also refilled them quickly. And the SPEED and number of vehicles refueling with gas is sooooo much faster in emergency situations like this.

Even in a hypothetical world where we had enough DC chargers for everyone….. it’s still too slow.

Just curious, when Tampa was dead center and Milton was category 5, were you considering taking your Mach E to Georgia or farther away?

Because we were definitely going to take my wife’s Lincoln. And the Mach E? Got stored on the 6th floor of a parking garage…… along with a slew of Teslas who didn’t want their houses to catch fire if they flooded.

And unfortunately my house flooded with Helene. Very glad I moved my Mach E out of the garage for that one too.

 

[mkhuffman]

It worked NOW for some EVs in Florida. But only if you didn’t evacuate far.

Heading to Georgia for Helene or Milton wouldn’t have been possible for me in my Mach E.

It would be completely unrealistic to create enough infrastructure for millions of EVs to evacuate.

The only way EV infrastructure works is if most charging is done at home.

“In case of emergency,” millions evacuating would require millions to DC charge on the road at the same time.

I’m sure someone could do the real math, but guessing that would require 10x or more DC chargers than we would normally need.

I don’t think we should waste that kinda money building 10x as many DC chargers as any other state for the once or twice a year we need a mass evacuation in Florida.

Yes, gas stations ran out of gas. But they also refilled them quickly. And the SPEED and number of vehicles refueling with gas is sooooo much faster in emergency situations like this.

Even in a hypothetical world where we had enough DC chargers for everyone….. it’s still too slow.

Just curious, when Tampa was dead center and Milton was category 5, were you considering taking your Mach E to Georgia or farther away?

Because we were definitely going to take my wife’s Lincoln. And the Mach E? Got stored on the 6th floor of a parking garage…… along with a slew of Teslas who didn’t want their houses to catch fire if they flooded.

And unfortunately my house flooded with Helene. Very glad I moved my Mach E out of the garage for that one too.

Sorry your house was flooded. That sucks. Hopefully the damage wasn't severe.

I agree with you except there are ways to charge that do not involve DCFC stations. Also, there are BEVs with much longer range than what our MMEs have. Could you have made it to GA with a 500-mile range Lucid Air GT? If not, I bet you could have found somewhere to go within the driving radius of that car. Could you make it with the 410-mile range Rivian R1? Again, it seems like 410 miles of range should be able to get you out of the path of the storm.

So many people argue with me about the importance of range in a BEV. This is the perfect situation for when range it critical. If our BEVs can go 600 miles on a full charge, the infrastructure needs are significantly less.

It is one of the big reasons I am planning to get a Gen 2 R1T. I love my MME except for range. I hate public charging, and the less I can do, the better.

 

[Madtroniks]

I’m very glad Ford, Rivian and GMC customer have access to the Tesla network.

It’s always good to have options especially during bad weather.

 

[Tampamike]

It worked NOW for some EVs in Florida. But only if you didn’t evacuate far.

Heading to Georgia for Helene or Milton wouldn’t have been possible for me in my Mach E.

It would be completely unrealistic to create enough infrastructure for millions of EVs to evacuate.

The only way EV infrastructure works is if most charging is done at home.

“In case of emergency,” millions evacuating would require millions to DC charge on the road at the same time.

I’m sure someone could do the real math, but guessing that would require 10x or more DC chargers than we would normally need.

I don’t think we should waste that kinda money building 10x as many DC chargers as any other state for the once or twice a year we need a mass evacuation in Florida.

Yes, gas stations ran out of gas. But they also refilled them quickly. And the SPEED and number of vehicles refueling with gas is sooooo much faster in emergency situations like this.

Even in a hypothetical world where we had enough DC chargers for everyone….. it’s still too slow.

Just curious, when Tampa was dead center and Milton was category 5, were you considering taking your Mach E to Georgia or farther away?

Because we were definitely going to take my wife’s Lincoln. And the Mach E? Got stored on the 6th floor of a parking garage…… along with a slew of Teslas who didn’t want their houses to catch fire if they flooded.

And unfortunately my house flooded with Helene. Very glad I moved my Mach E out of the garage for that one too.

https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/milton-ev-hurrivac-trip-report.39358/#post-857526

I DID evacuate far. I wasn’t the only one. Buc-ee’s in Macon, GA was full of EV’s evacuating Florida but, yet, there were still charging plugs open.

Gas - as I said, stations were running out of gas on Sunday for a Wednesday storm. Stations were running out and still weren’t replenished as of last night - two days after the storm left. The two closest stations to me - right up the road were still out - a circle K still boarded up and a 7-11 still closed. The stations that were/are open had horrible lines. I think I had an easier time charging than many people had getting gas. We have two oil terminal in Tampa - one right down the road from me. The problem though is that you can’t bring tankers into port in a hurricane - or anywhere close until it passes.

We were always taking my MachE to evacuate. It’s our only car. Plan A was to Ft. Lauderdale to my wife’s sister’s place. That fell through. Plan B on Monday morning was head to Savannah and get a hotel. I was halfway through that when my buddy offered his place in GA. We took that and left with 99%. Chargers along the way were available with some full and some not. I ended up not waiting anywhere and made it with about 50% left.

Your premise is based on guessing as you said. Maybe the guess could be wrong, no? I don’t have the expertise to hazard a guess on electrical infrastructure requirements, but, if you build it, they will come.

 

[Tampamike]

Sorry your house was flooded. That sucks. Hopefully the damage wasn't severe.

I agree with you except there are ways to charge that do not involve DCFC stations. Also, there are BEVs with much longer range than what our MMEs have. Could you have made it to GA with a 500-mile range Lucid Air GT? If not, I bet you could have found somewhere to go within the driving radius of that car. Could you make it with the 410-mile range Rivian R1? Again, it seems like 410 miles of range should be able to get you out of the path of the storm.

So many people argue with me about the importance of range in a BEV. This is the perfect situation for when range it critical. If our BEVs can go 600 miles on a full charge, the infrastructure needs are significantly less.

It is one of the big reasons I am planning to get a Gen 2 R1T. I love my MME except for range. I hate public charging, and the less I can do, the better.

Good points. Macon is 400 miles from Tampa and is more than enough distance - the weather was beautiful up there. With my Premium and big battery, I can make it to the Georgia line depending on the route and speed With a full battery. Only one more leg gets you out of range. Bigger range of course gets you farther on that first leg, maybe even far enough depending on your comfort level. I preemptively charged if there was a charger open just to be proactive but you don’t have to. Like I said before, the environment out there is definitely improving. Three years ago there was only EA. I didn’t even use an EA this time either way. Options are materializing quickly.

 

[AhardFSU]

Good points. Macon is 400 miles from Tampa and is more than enough distance - the weather was beautiful up there. With my Premium and big battery, I can make it to the Georgia line depending on the route and speed With a full battery. Only one more leg gets you out of range. Bigger range of course gets you farther on that first leg, maybe even far enough depending on your comfort level. I preemptively charged if there was a charger open just to be proactive but you don’t have to. Like I said before, the environment out there is definitely improving. Three years ago there was only EA. I didn’t even use an EA this time either way. Options are materializing quickly.

I agree. The Mach E is my only vehicle. When I drove to Destin FL in April of this year, I could have went almost to the Georgia line without charging. And as you mentioned in the other thread you created, some of the Tesla SCs are near empty, especially the one in Alachua. That's a stop where no one bothers you.

 

[Mach1E]

https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/milton-ev-hurrivac-trip-report.39358/#post-857526

I DID evacuate far. I wasn’t the only one. Buc-ee’s in Macon, GA was full of EV’s evacuating Florida but, yet, there were still charging plugs open.

Gas - as I said, stations were running out of gas on Sunday for a Wednesday storm. Stations were running out and still weren’t replenished as of last night - two days after the storm left. The two closest stations to me - right up the road were still out - a circle K still boarded up and a 7-11 still closed. The stations that were/are open had horrible lines. I think I had an easier time charging than many people had getting gas. We have two oil terminal in Tampa - one right down the road from me. The problem though is that you can’t bring tankers into port in a hurricane - or anywhere close until it passes.

We were always taking my MachE to evacuate. It’s our only car. Plan A was to Ft. Lauderdale to my wife’s sister’s place. That fell through. Plan B on Monday morning was head to Savannah and get a hotel. I was halfway through that when my buddy offered his place in GA. We took that and left with 99%. Chargers along the way were available with some full and some not. I ended up not waiting anywhere and made it with about 50% left.

Your premise is based on guessing as you said. Maybe the guess could be wrong, no? I don’t have the expertise to hazard a guess on electrical infrastructure requirements, but, if you build it, they will come.

Interesting. Maybe it works now because everyone else (myself included) is too afraid to evacuate in their EV. Open chargers tells that story (vs lines at the gas stations during the evac).

But if everyone was driving an EV, it would be very different.

The earlier point about increased range as a solution I like much better than an over abundance of DC charging infrastructure.

 

[Billyk24]

Can put a gas fired generator in the back of the Mach E and chsrge slowly overnight.

 

[Sikkun]

I DID evacuate far. I wasn’t the only one. Buc-ee’s in Macon, GA was full of EV’s evacuating Florida but, yet, there were still charging plugs open.

Some of those stations are busy on a normal day. But like you say, spots were open.

At the end of the day you can find DC chargers in FL right now, my mother’s house here has power.

But she still can’t easily buy gas.

And it’s not like you have to evacuate 400+ miles for a hurricane either…..was safe places to go much closer than that.

 

[bbulkow]

Good points. Macon is 400 miles from Tampa and is more than enough distance - the weather was beautiful up there. With my Premium and big battery, I can make it to the Georgia line depending on the route and speed With a full battery. Only one more leg gets you out of range. Bigger range of course gets you farther on that first leg, maybe even far enough depending on your comfort level. I preemptively charged if there was a charger open just to be proactive but you don’t have to. Like I said before, the environment out there is definitely improving. Three years ago there was only EA. I didn’t even use an EA this time either way. Options are materializing quickly.

The point people keep missing is the mache is a 400 plus mile car if you drive around 50 mph. Maybe more, we don't have a lot of data about sustained low sure driving. I would rather drive an extra hour in time to make it or from under a storm. Ices don't have the same low speed efficiency.

 

[Sikkun]

The point people keep missing is the mache is a 400 plus mile car if you drive around 50 mph. Maybe more, we don't have a lot of data about sustained low sure driving. I would rather drive an extra hour in time to make it or from under a storm. Ices don't have the same low speed efficiency.

569 at 23 mph because someone decided to get a world record doing it.

 

[Tampamike]

Interesting. Maybe it works now because everyone else (myself included) is too afraid to evacuate in their EV. Open chargers tells that story (vs lines at the gas stations during the evac).

But if everyone was driving an EV, it would be very different.

The earlier point about increased range as a solution I like much better than an over abundance of DC charging infrastructure.

If everyone was driving an EV, of course it would be different - it would be the future with a different reality than than today’s gasoline/ICE model. The evolution will probably move to longer range, faster charging AND more charging infrastructure.

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