EV in a hurricane evacuation

[mjs020294]

I can take a 5 gallon fuel container from my garage, pour it into my ICE vehicle and get 125 miles within 2 minutes. There's no doing that with EVs.

Worst case scenario I have 12x5g gas cans so on a full tank our Jeep has a 2,000 mile range. lol

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[Kamuelaflyer]

At least you can fully fuel your vehicle at home before the storm hits. From what I've seen on the news, getting gas right before a hurricane is a bit more challenging.

This.

We have tsunamis, earthquakes, lava, and hurricanes. Yes, it's paradise.

Charge the car to 100% when there's a hurricane on the way and near (enough). That way you're one step ahead of the ICE vehicles queueing up at the gas stations while heading to evacuation zones. If you don't evacuate, you're one step up on those who need gas while the grid is down. BEVs are a plus in hurricane country imo.

 

[DevSecOps]

Worst case scenario I have 12x5g gas cans so on a full tank our Jeep has a 2,000 mile range. lol

Completely agree. I'd love to see the Lightning pull a trailer in 50mph headwinds in a Colorado snow storm, dead of winter. They probably wouldn't get around the block. Let's not forget that we are talking about a hurricane here. Depending on when you leave, those winds are not a friend of an EV (or ICE for that matter).

I own an EV, on my second one, and I'm not bashing on them but we all know damn well that come winter, with headwinds WITHOUT a trailer we get about 50% of the EPA range. I think people have forgotten that the 220 we squeeze out now is in perfect conditions. This morning at 90% SOC I get an intelligent range notification that "Due to weather my range is reduced to 180 mi." It's 90F here today. Agendas are clouding the minds of some people and they forget that not every emergency is in the middle of summer or on an island the size of Los Angeles. Everyone has different living situations and while it might be fine for some to have just an EV, it's not for others. It's difficult for some people to accept that, especially on this forum.

Ultimately, take whatever you're comfortable with. Personally, I would go ICE. In that level of stress I don't want to be planning charge stops and dealing with out of order chargers.

I hope that battery tech continues to improve and we eventually get 400+ miles reliably and charge in 10 minutes, but for now, we just aren't there.

 

[vinny2487]

Sorry to break in with real data but that Lightning owner was pretty much right.

We have a Lightning (Lariat ER). Towing our 25’ long, 10’ tall travel trailer (not a teardrop) we get 160-170 miles on a full charge. On a recent trip from the DC area into WV, the first leg in the flats averaged 1.3 miles/kWh, the second over 4 Appalachian ridges, including over the Eastern Continental Divide was 1.2. The regeneration on downhills is awesome and almost makes up for uphill losses.

And yes, aero is far more important than weight in a trailer.

I believe it was TFL and Out of Spec that mentioned that aero has a larger impact on range than weight.

 

[Tampamike]

I charged last night to 100%. No line. Spent all day battening down the hatches on the boat and clearing the porches and first floor just in case. We’re a block off the bay in evac zone A. Heading 260 miles to sister-in-law’s in Fort Lauderdale. Should make it no problem without charging but will probably try an EA or two for cushion. Not worried about running out of charge in traffic. More worried about wind and surge at the marina.

I’ll be Lauderdale Mike for a few days.

 

[mjs020294]

I charged last night to 100%. No line. Spent all day battening down the hatches on the boat and clearing the porches and first floor just in case. We’re a block off the bay in evac zone A. Heading 260 miles to sister-in-law’s in Fort Lauderdale. Should make it no problem without charging but will probably try an EA or two for cushion. Not worried about running out of charge in traffic. More worried about wind and surge at the marina.

I’ll be Lauderdale Mike for a few days.

Heading southeast to Ft Lauderdale or Miami looks the best option. Lots of hotels and if you charge or fill up when you arrive the return trip will be easy.

 

[RedStallion]

The weather channel just did a piece on the issues with EVs for anyone evacuating hurricane Ian. If you get stuck in traffic or end up in a charging dead zone an EV could be a huge liability. For instance a few years ago tens of thousands of people evacuated towards Atlanta from the Tampa area. With a high volume of people evacuating the spaces at charging stations will be very limited. Then you have the issue of potentially out of service charging stations when you attempt to return after an hurricane.

Definitely something to think about.

Nothing to worry, the future is here. Ebuggy extends the range by 300 miles ?

https://www.greencarreports.com/new...r-boosts-range-by-300-miles-looks-a-bit-silly

 

[RockwallRick]

I charged last night to 100%. No line. Spent all day battening down the hatches on the boat and clearing the porches and first floor just in case. We’re a block off the bay in evac zone A. Heading 260 miles to sister-in-law’s in Fort Lauderdale. Should make it no problem without charging but will probably try an EA or two for cushion. Not worried about running out of charge in traffic. More worried about wind and surge at the marina.

I’ll be Lauderdale Mike for a few days.

Sounds like a good plan to me! Looks like Tampa is going to get hammered for a couple days at least! I will feel better after it moves north from there!

 

[AhardFSU]

I charged last night to 100%. No line. Spent all day battening down the hatches on the boat and clearing the porches and first floor just in case. We’re a block off the bay in evac zone A. Heading 260 miles to sister-in-law’s in Fort Lauderdale. Should make it no problem without charging but will probably try an EA or two for cushion. Not worried about running out of charge in traffic. More worried about wind and surge at the marina.

I’ll be Lauderdale Mike for a few days.

I charged at home this afternoon and I’m at 100%. I’m in Riverview and I’m not in a flood zone. I was planning on driving up to Jax later this week but I may head out tomorrow. I can make it to the Jax EvGo and still have 23% when I get there. So I’m good to go.

 

[ChasingCoral]

Completely agree. I'd love to see the Lightning pull a trailer in 50mph headwinds in a Colorado snow storm, dead of winter. They probably wouldn't get around the block. Let's not forget that we are talking about a hurricane here. Depending on when you leave, those winds are not a friend of an EV (or ICE for that matter).

Agreed! Headwinds are real range killers when pulling a trailer -- EV or ICE.

 

[ctenidae]

The main issue is being in areas around the pan handle and maybe rural Georgia where there really isn't many charging stations. Back in 2017 some people went about 400-500 miles, so its a 1,000 round trip.

Granted- in that scenario, though, being stuck in traffic isn't the primary concern. Of course, a decently planned evacuation, perhaps enacted earlier than you might in an ICE, could allow for a 500 mile drive to safety.

 

[Deleted User 981389]

Am I missing something here when it comes to EV's charging the house. Yeah I get what it does but after a day or two and you still don't have power then what? Your car needs a charge and you can't power your house. Perhaps I'm doing it wrong, when our power goes out the generator comes on and it's business as usual - I mean heat, A/C and sometimes all the light bulbs.

 

[Electric Goat]

I'm pretty sure that getting 300 miles away in an EV would be the easiest. Also 240v plugs are literally everywhere. Worst case is, if no DC Fast charging is available, then I could convince a business to let use their 240v or I could just drive to a camp site and charge there.

 

[mjs020294]

I really don't think many can comprehend the lack of changers in certain areas of the country and sheer volume of people that might be on the roads evacuating. If 100,000 people evacuate in the same direction and a small percentage are driving EVs you're going to get hundreds of people looking for chargers in the same vicinity. If its a following hurricane there is a good chance the power will be down on the return journey.

Similar issues exist with the gas supply network when there is a surge of extra traffic plus disrupted supply when the oil/gas ports close for 2-3 days.

 

[New2EV]

I’ve unfortunately experienced several hurricanes here in NC over the last 20 years. If you don’t fill up when there is a hint you are screwed. Then when it lifts you get to see the ugliest part of humanity with people fighting when the gas trucks arrive so they can get gas for their generators.

Which is why I bought a diesel powered generator. Last major outage was 6 days without power while constantly hunting for gas. But every station had diesel and so did all the truck stops for the emergency equipment coming in to help. Plus, it can sit for years and still starts right up.

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