Electric vehicles during a disaster

[Kyle_in_Tex]

I don't commute, I'm retired. When I have to go somewhere, I leave in ample time to get there....and my freeway speed is always 65 or just above that and I maintain my vehicle properly and actually check the air in the tires weekly. Something that is alien to a lot of people, including tractor owners. last time I checked here in Michigan the truck speed limit was 65.

Just stay in the far right lane and you're fine.

 

[Raul-02]

I was listening to the radio today. An interesting topic came up. How would the people in Florida evacuate for hurricane in electric vehicles. it wouldn’t take much for the charging stations to be overwhelmed leaving thousands of motorists stranded as the storm approached.

The second part of the problem would be how do you function without a power grid to charge your electric vehicles. As of now I’ve seen the gas stations bring in generators to run the gas pumps. I don’t think there’s enough generators to recharge all the cars.

I then got to thinking about up north in the winter time and an ice storm/snow storm could also disable the power grid for a long time. One could also add in the problems with tornadoes and floods.

I thought it was an interesting question for all the greenies out there.

Oh that's easy. Rig a turbine to the exhaust and drive a generator with that and you will never need to recharge ever again.
Right? That's physics right?

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

In Austin, when summer hit hard early (May), the grid was hitting max levels. They were asking people to conserve, up their thermostats, etc. The radio talk show brought up the topic of charging cars when you typically get home from work at 5-6pm. Many different aspects were brought up. Peoples' ire was definitely worked up.
1) People agreed that EV's should get charged in the wee hours of the morning, not during peak hours.
2) EV's use roughly the equivalent of 3 mid sized homes HVAC systems when charging.
3) Austin Electric had a program over the last 2 decades of giving out free HVAC thermostats that would "save you money", by cutting off your A/C for a period during 5-9pm No matter what.
4) EV owners should buy their own solar power array anyway to complete the Green cycle, so that no hydrocarbons are burned to charge their cars.
5) people griped about the environmental destruction of Lithium mining, and the end of use pollution of the batteries going into the ground.
6) Even Elon Musk has said there's not enough electricity currently to charge the number of EV's anticipated.

I would love to have one, for a 3rd vehicle, for my commute....if only they were cheap and my employer would let me re-charge at work....

 

[ponytug]

In Austin, when summer hit hard early (May), the grid was hitting max levels. They were asking people to conserve, up their thermostats, etc. The radio talk show brought up the topic of charging cars when you typically get home from work at 5-6pm. Many different aspects were brought up. Peoples' ire was definitely worked up.
1) People agreed that EV's should get charged in the wee hours of the morning, not during peak hours.
2) EV's use roughly the equivalent of 3 mid sized homes HVAC systems when charging.
3) Austin Electric had a program over the last 2 decades of giving out free HVAC thermostats that would "save you money", by cutting off your A/C for a period during 5-9pm No matter what.
4) EV owners should buy their own solar power array anyway to complete the Green cycle, so that no hydrocarbons are burned to charge their cars.
5) people griped about the environmental destruction of Lithium mining, and the end of use pollution of the batteries going into the ground.
6) Even Elon Musk has said there's not enough electricity currently to charge the number of EV's anticipated.

I would love to have one, for a 3rd vehicle, for my commute....if only they were cheap and my employer would let me re-charge at work....

Well, to your last point, they are getting cheaper. The Chevy Bolt is around $30k, and the Nissan Leaf starts at under $30k. Both would do great for 90% of American car trips, per @CobyRupert's post above.

Most EV owners that I know charge in the middle of the night; rates are lower, so I am personally doubtful that more than a couple of idiots are actually charging during peak hours, especially hereabouts. Even though I plug in my hybrid when I get home, it doesn't charge until the rates drop, which is at midnight here, though in the summertime, it charges off of solar during the day, all by programming the car. Now that I think about way more than half of the EV owners that I know around here own solar as well. (No idea how representative that is. Purely an anecdote.)

I'm envious of the EV owners in Texas who have free nights and weekend electricity rates. As an example of unintended consequences, and uninformed risk taking by consumers, I find the whole Texas electricity market and electricity production fascinating.

At the moment, our solar powered batteries are backing up the grid as part of 2,341 solar/battery owners who volunteered to supply power during peak demand times (we are in a heat wave at the moment). Apparently a little over 16MW of stored solar is flowing back to help the grid distributed across California.

For sure the country needs more power to be able to replace gasoline. Change takes time, especially for large infrastructure projects, like energy and water. In principle, have lots of EVs could/should stabilize the grid through varying demand. Water is a different story.

Rome wasn't built in a day; I am sure that EVs are going to evolve into lots of different niches, and the infrastructure will take awhile to get built out.

Once you get one, you realize just how inexpensive they are to run per mile. Really inexpensive.

All the best,

Peter

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Well, to your last point, they are getting cheaper. The Chevy Bolt is around $30k, and the Nissan Leaf starts at under $30k. Both would do great for 90% of American car trips, per @CobyRupert's post above.

Most EV owners that I know charge in the middle of the night; rates are lower, so I am personally doubtful that more than a couple of idiots are actually charging during peak hours, especially hereabouts. Even though I plug in my hybrid when I get home, it doesn't charge until the rates drop, which is at midnight here, though in the summertime, it charges off of solar during the day, all by programming the car. Now that I think about way more than half of the EV owners that I know around here own solar as well. (No idea how representative that is. Purely an anecdote.)

I'm envious of the EV owners in Texas who have free nights and weekend electricity rates. As an example of unintended consequences, and uninformed risk taking by consumers, I find the whole Texas electricity market and electricity production fascinating.

At the moment, our solar powered batteries are backing up the grid as part of 2,341 solar/battery owners who volunteered to supply power during peak demand times (we are in a heat wave at the moment). Apparently a little over 16MW of stored solar is flowing back to help the grid distributed across California.

For sure the country needs more power to be able to replace gasoline. Change takes time, especially for large infrastructure projects, like energy and water. In principle, have lots of EVs could/should stabilize the grid through varying demand. Water is a different story.

Rome wasn't built in a day; I am sure that EVs are going to evolve into lots of different niches, and the infrastructure will take awhile to get built out.

Once you get one, you realize just how inexpensive they are to run per mile. Really inexpensive.

All the best,

Peter

For those backing up the grid, they should repay y'all the same peek demand rates they charge you, and drop the basic hookup fees. Not the wholesale rate. It saves them a fortune not having to build more plants. They could raise the peak demand rates to the users to cover their transmission costs.

 

[Citydude]

I post statistics about how EV’s can, and ARE, being used in cold countries that the Article Circle runs through, and your response is a personal non sequitur?

That’s ok, I guess when the facts don’t match a person’s notions, trying to make it personal about the messenger, or change the subject, rather than the brain trying to resolve contradictory information is a human tendency. I might be wrong, but I think that’s called cognitive dissonance.

As been stated before, when discussing political or controversial subjects that are allowed again here on TBN, it’s important to stick to facts and the topic, and not make it personal.

So your snide remark about America leading the world in "I can't or it will never be done" gets a pass? No one can challenge your statements? I stand by my question to you. That's the facts.

 

[Agvg]

A few days? From what I can see, Norway is about 1000 miles long north to south. It is not unusual for me to drive 1000 miles in one day. Never been to Norway, but different driving conditions I'm sure. I set the cruise at 82 mph (about 132 kph) and drive till I need a break or fuel. Many places I can see the highway for 20 miles down the road, and traffic is minimal.
View attachment 758652

As of yet, EV charging stations are hard to find.

View attachment 758653

Well, here roads are not straight or flatt, it really takes time to drive.

 

[Hay Dude]

Just drove the entire length of PA and continued west to Columbus, OH to see my daughter play at Ohio State.
Just “going with traffic” we were doing 90-95 like it was nothing.
Going 75 was slowing traffic down and felt like 45.

 

[92blacksunshine]

I'm a lineman for a large electric company... there is no way our system can handle a large amount of EV's charging at one time... heck, if we get a series of 90+° days,we have transformers overheating.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Are people who evacuate really going that far? What's the typical evacuation? 50 miles maybe? Unlike an ICE, an EV does not use power unless it's moving, so getting stuck in a huge traffic jam is just a delay.