EV in a hurricane evacuation

[mikeinet]

The good news is DC Fast Chargers are on major corridors in retail developments that get their power turned on the soonest after emergency services. They’re usually near gas stations too.

I wonder if there’s emergency plans for EV charging stations though. Those draw a lot of power for a fragile grid… wonder if they have plans to disable the chargers but turn on the retail centers until the grid stabilized
I assume they wouldn’t do this, but never know.

Sponsored

 

[mikeinet]

Reading this whole thread….
I kinda get the impression that for “known emergencies” (I.e.; hurricanes) then EVs may have an advantage over ICE (both are screwed without power…) as you can pre-charge and be ready

In unknown emergencies (I.e.; fire evacuations, earthquakes) I imagine ICE has a better advantage as gas stations are more available in more places and you may not be ready with a full EV charge

this is definerly making me rethink my “do I charge everyday” concept

 

[mkhuffman]

Reading this whole thread….
I kinda get the impression that for “known emergencies” (I.e.; hurricanes) then EVs may have an advantage over ICE (both are screwed without power…) as you can pre-charge and be ready

In unknown emergencies (I.e.; fire evacuations, earthquakes) I imagine ICE has a better advantage as gas stations are more available in more places and you may not be ready with a full EV charge

this is definerly making me rethink my “do I charge everyday” concept

This is why I charge to 90% and always plug in when it drops below 80%. In an emergency, like going to see my mom because of a health emergency, I will have to do some quick packing and it doesn't take long to get to 100% if I am already at 90 or 85%.

So by the time I am ready to go out the door, the car should be close enough to 100% to make the trip. Of course that trip requires at DCFC stop if I drive 80 most of the way, so either I slow down or I have to stop for 10 minutes (assuming no charger congestion ?).

 

[Anthropod]

Sadly, I bet you there will be a lot of new "Florida Man" stuff after this one. I have yet to see a "Florida Man" EV thing, but it's about time I think.

 

[billy_at]

To add facts to this; In 2019, we had a 5% market share of EVs in California. Imagine what this would look like with a higher market share.

This is the lamest argument. If we have X chargers at 5% market share, we’ll have 4X chargers at 20% market share. These are profit-making companies that build chargers to earn money. They will expand with the market for EV’s - as they already do.

Automakers project the number of EV’s they plan to build and sell well into the future, so charging companies can see the demand (and revenue) coming well in advance.

And we have several companies competing to dominate this new market. The most likely outcome is that they overbuild (like we saw with telecoms in the 90's or e-scooters in the last decade) in a frantic bid to be the winner.

 

[Garbone]

This is why I charge to 90% and always plug in when it drops below 80%. In an emergency, like going to see my mom because of a health emergency, I will have to do some quick packing and it doesn't take long to get to 100% if I am already at 90 or 85%.

So by the time I am ready to go out the door, the car should be close enough to 100% to make the trip. Of course that trip requires at DCFC stop if I drive 80 most of the way, so either I slow down or I have to stop for 10 minutes (assuming no charger congestion ?).

Good thing Electrify America is so reliable. ?

Here is the screen cap of our local EV Go station..

Not that busy considering it at 4 & 95 on a evacuation route. I bet the next 24 hours shows an increase.

 

[ChasingCoral]

Charger congestion is a real problem even on a normal day. More and more BEVs are getting released into the wild, and you can see them when you need to DCFC. Maybe Todd doesn't want to take his MME to see his grandmother because the 20 minute DCFC stop isn't a sure thing? Maybe there are people waiting at that charger and then it becomes a 2 hour "fast" charge.

I've only once had to wait for a charger at a DCFC station. When and where are you running into charger congestion? Or have you just "heard" it's a real problem on a normal day?

 

[dbsb3233]

This is the lamest argument. If we have X chargers at 5% market share, we’ll have 4X chargers at 20% market share. These are profit-making companies that build chargers to earn money. They will expand with the market for EV’s - as they already do.

Automakers project the number of EV’s they plan to build and sell well into the future, so charging companies can see the demand (and revenue) coming well in advance.

And we have several companies competing to dominate this new market. The most likely outcome is that they overbuild (like we saw with telecoms in the 90's or e-scooters in the last decade) in a frantic bid to be the winner.

The problem is it's usually a money-losing proposition to build and operate DCFC. At least for now, at these relatively cheap prices. It usually takes huge taxpayer subsidies (or $billions in Dieselgate fine money).

Business won't likely be falling over each other to build DCFC if all that taxpayer subsidy dries up (and the Dielselgate money runs out). Unless they all start charging $1/kWh or something to make it self-sustaining.

 

[Logal727]

Good thing Electrify America is so reliable. ?

Here is the screen cap of our local EV Go station..

Not that busy considering it at 4 & 95 on a evacuation route. I bet the next 24 hours shows an increase.

Mario is my favorite charger at that one. He’s always giving full power!

 

[dbsb3233]

I've only once had to wait for a charger at a DCFC station. When and where are you running into charger congestion? Or have you just "heard" it's a real problem on a normal day?

Same here (only 1 wait in over 100 DCFC charges). But I can see them getting busier and busier in general as more EVs hit the roads (although strangely, our trip the last 2 weeks saw mostly empty EA stations, most of then free).

Tesla has issues with full superchargers and lengthy lines at peak times, although even that's infrequent. But this is all with maybe 1% of BEVs on US roads, and ramping up rather dramatically. I'm guessing we're gonna see a lot more full stations in the coming years.

And that's under "normal" times. In a situation where everyone needs to charge at the same time (a hurricane or wildfire evac, a football game letting out, Sunday on Thanksgiving weekend, etc), we'll probably see lots of reports of those lines of cars at chargers. More DCFC is coming too, but I'm guessing it'll be behind the curve of BEV growth since it's such a poor business case.

 

[agoldman]

gas pumps don't work in a power outage either.

 

[ChasingCoral]

gas pumps don't work in a power outage either.

However, most gas stations, like most DCFC stations, are in commercial areas brought online first after emergency services.
https://www.tcpalm.com/story/weathe...s-after-storms-like-hurricane-irma/666859001/

 

[dbsb3233]

However, most gas stations, like most DCFC stations, are in commercial areas brought online first after emergency services.
https://www.tcpalm.com/story/weathe...s-after-storms-like-hurricane-irma/666859001/

And some might operate on emergency generator, especially if part of a large host business (like a Costco, or a grocery store). The pumps likely only take a small fraction of the power that a DCFC station needs.

Although I wonder about credit card processing if power is out in the whole area? Fewer and fewer gas stations are set up for cash sales now.

 

[dml105]

Isn't the answer just drive to the opposite coast? Florida is only 120 miles across. Well within range.

Good luck to all that are facing this!

 

[ctenidae]

The problem is it's usually a money-losing proposition to build and operate DCFC. At least for now, at these relatively cheap prices. It usually takes huge taxpayer subsidies (or $billions in Dieselgate fine money).

Business won't likely be falling over each other to build DCFC if all that taxpayer subsidy dries up (and the Dielselgate money runs out). Unless they all start charging $1/kWh or something to make it self-sustaining.

I suspect the cost to install DCFC will come down once the Dieselgate money is soaked up (too much easy money for the taking). EA's volume has certainly helped DCFC manufacturers get up to speed, so that cost will come down. The actual installation costs up to 60% of the total cost, I've seen, and so much of that seems to be driven by local regulation and costs associated with the utility company running a line. Hopefully Federal $$ coming in will help to simplify or standardize the massive range of regulation installers have to deal with, and perhaps normalize how utilities handle their end of it. My real hope is that DCFC drives more distributed generation and spurs battery tech for local storage away from the grid.

Sponsored