EV in a hurricane evacuation

[nvabill]

Now here’s a hurricane story!

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/P36RMXiAF5fvr7DR/?

Cool I was wondering when someone would revive this thread.

Sponsored

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

Now here’s a hurricane story!

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/P36RMXiAF5fvr7DR/?

A good reminder of how much things have changed in the past few years. Thanks for posting this Mark.

 

[mkhuffman]

A good reminder of how much things have changed in the past few years. Thanks for posting this Mark.

I think what is missing from this post is how he managed to keep his Lightning charged when there are widespread power outages, including the one at his home. I am not calling BS on the post, but really I want to know how he did it.

 

[Snakebitten]

It's very possible that he started with a fully charged ER Lightning and accomplished plenty enough to warrant his story?

I started with a full tank of fuel in my Powerboost and accomplished many similar post-hurricane electrical-grid-on-wheels feats for me and the families' abodes.

 

[superdave80]

I think what is missing from this post is how he managed to keep his Lightning charged when there are widespread power outages, including the one at his home. I am not calling BS on the post, but really I want to know how he did it.

It probably depends on how widespread the outage is. His power might be out, but maybe 30 miles away there are some operational DC chargers he can use.

 

[Sikkun]

I think what is missing from this post is how he managed to keep his Lightning charged when there are widespread power outages, including the one at his home. I am not calling BS on the post, but really I want to know how he did it.

Tampa area was just hit by a major storm. But if I pull up Tesla SC’s map it’s not hard to find super chargers within your range, even ones without a wait currently that have power.

Assuming you are in an area it’s actually safe to drive, if not, better off using your EV to power the house and wait for the power to come back.

You also can’t pump gas without power and there are gas shortages.

In most situations I can come up with it will be easier to find power for your EV than gas.

 

[mkhuffman]

Tampa area was just hit by a major storm. But if I pull up Tesla SC’s map it’s not hard to find super chargers within your range, even ones without a wait currently that have power.

Assuming you are in an area it’s actually safe to drive, if not, better off using your EV to power the house and wait for the power to come back.

You also can’t pump gas without power and there are gas shortages.

In most situations I can come up with it will be easier to find power for your EV than gas.

I saw that also. However, how did he do it?

Did he simply drive everywhere using the charge he did before the power went out? Did he use some L2 chargers that were active? Did he use the SC network? EA? I just wish he had provided a little more about how he did it rather than me guessing.

Personally, I think a BEV after a storm is better than a ICEV after a storm. There are so many more options for refueling a BEV. I have a NG generator, which could easily charge my MME. It would be slow and expensive, but who cares when you are without power?

 

[bbulkow]

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.

The benefit of the ev in this situation is massive range at low speed (one user reported 800 mile range at 25 mph on a different site ), being able to keep climate on for possibly a month (if 3 percent drain for 24 hours, which depends a lot on temp), being able to drive through high water (depending on the vehicle you are comparing to and whether it has a snorkel), and the ability to charge, at least slowly, anywhere there is power (eg, a gas station with a garage, ask to use the 220v they have for the welder, if you have the right adapter, or any house... At least you get some range out of 110 but a lot more if you find an l2 or a house with a dryer socket).

Being able to charge to full at home without braving a last minute gas station.... With the down side that you can't fill up mid trip or carry a gas can to top up....

Honestly i will take the ev any time.

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

The benefit of the ev in this situation is massive range at low speed (one user reported 800 mile range at 25 mph on a different site ), being able to keep climate on for possibly a month (if 3 percent drain for 24 hours, which depends a lot on temp), being able to drive through high water (depending on the vehicle you are comparing to and whether it has a snorkel), and the ability to charge, at least slowly, anywhere there is power (eg, a gas station with a garage, ask to use the 220v they have for the welder, if you have the right adapter, or any house... At least you get some range out of 110 but a lot more if you find an l2 or a house with a dryer socket).

Being able to charge to dull at home without braving a last minute gas station.... With the down side that you can't fill up mid trip.

Honestly i will take the ev any time.

This.

The last hurricane fly by here had oil embargo length gas lines. Charged to full at home.

The last sustained power outage (extensive wildfire) here had people in a pickle due to the outages affecting the gas stations. We simply adjusted the charging on our car to match our solar panel peak output time frame.

 

[CarsIMBwife]

I saw that also. However, how did he do it?

How I did it…
After Helene hit, I used the EA app and the Tesla app to determine open DCFCs. Within a week they were open. Realistically I just stayed home until this option was available. We had no power for 9 days and were able to purchase a generator on the sixth day. There were so many roads closed I couldn’t go anywhere anyway. I used Apple Maps (zoomed in) to check for road closures before venturing out. Very, very fortunate to have an intact home.

 

[Mach1E]

Now here’s a hurricane story!

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/P36RMXiAF5fvr7DR/?

Would have been cheaper and better to buy a regular F150 and a generator.

He evacuated 1.5 hrs inland because evacuating to Georgia wasn’t an option.

And when millions have to evacuate like they did for Milton….. “inland” doesn’t have capacity.

2/3 of my county lost power. Many friends and family evacuated long distances and NONE did it in an EV.

It’s not that you can’t do it in an EV, but it’s like every other long distance driving- ICE is better.

Stay close? Yeah EV is fine.

But you absolutely could not safely evacuate millions of people in EVs at the same time. So many people would be stranded.

 

[Mach1E]

The benefit of the ev in this situation is massive range at low speed (one user reported 800 mile range at 25 mph on a different site ), being able to keep climate on for possibly a month (if 3 percent drain for 24 hours, which depends a lot on temp), being able to drive through high water (depending on the vehicle you are comparing to and whether it has a snorkel), and the ability to charge, at least slowly, anywhere there is power (eg, a gas station with a garage, ask to use the 220v they have for the welder, if you have the right adapter, or any house... At least you get some range out of 110 but a lot more if you find an l2 or a house with a dryer socket).

Being able to charge to full at home without braving a last minute gas station.... With the down side that you can't fill up mid trip or carry a gas can to top up....

Honestly i will take the ev any time.

I think it’s the same after the storm as a BEV is in normal use.

Better as long as you don’t need to drive long distances.

Its major flaw is long distance evacuation.

I am currently charging 120v at the only family members house who currently has electricity. Which is perfectly fine since I’m staying in town.

My evacuation options to get clear of the hurricane force winds were 4 hours north (Georgia) or 4 hours south (Miami). Have friends and family members who did each of those things.

 

[thekat03]

For the long distance drives, people who evacuated several days in advance of the storm probably were fine. My nephew flew out the Sunday before the storm, and if he were driving instead, that probably would have been just as doable. His school closed for the week, which made that more feasible. An EV would probably have been more pleasant for those slow moving traffic jams as well, since their range improves while the ICEV range worsens, but I don't think I would want to drive out of Florida in the massive traffic jams I saw Tuesday in any car.

 

[Sikkun]

My mother has had her power back for 2 days now….still can’t buy any gasoline.

Honestly unless you stockpile before a storm this is pretty much in line with hurricanes the whole time I lived in central FL.

Charlie we lost power the longest, but, also no gas locally. After 4-5 days you could drive a couple towns over to get gas, but also these days you could be DC charging just the same.

 

[Mach1E]

For the long distance drives, people who evacuated several days in advance of the storm probably were fine. My nephew flew out the Sunday before the storm, and if he were driving instead, that probably would have been just as doable. His school closed for the week, which made that more feasible. An EV would probably have been more pleasant for those slow moving traffic jams as well, since their range improves while the ICEV range worsens, but I don't think I would want to drive out of Florida in the massive traffic jams I saw Tuesday in any car.

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.

Sponsored