“It’s 2035, all cars are electric, and the massive Hurricane Iris has hit Louisiana. Much of New Orleans is under water, and emergency workers with their Ford F-150 Lightning electric pickup trucks need to rescue families and pets. But Louisiana has lost power, and the trucks are all dead. The Blessey family, which has lived in New Orleans for generations, want to get out of town to stay with relatives. They can’t set off in their Chevy Bolt EV because they won’t be able to recharge it on the way.”
“Gasoline and diesel are winners when natural disasters interfere with the electricity grid,”
(As reported by Cleantechnica, the original Forbes article by Prof Diana Furchtgott-Roth is behind a paywall)
My thoughts are:
But when the grid goes down, gas stations are down too, and they are clogged with long lines of cars and trucks waiting to refuel when the grid comes back. EVs always charge overnight and are likely to be between 80 and 100% full charge when grid goes down. But gas cars like likely to be 50% tank on average with some running near empty. The EV capacity is enough for one full week of normal driving in the city and probably two weeks of emergency trips only mode of driving.
EVs have enough juice to keep your fridge and freezer going for a week, by 2035 they will have actual outlets and inverters to actually let you do it and drive a few more essential appliances. When the grid comes back, these cars quietly charge back to 80% without clogging up the gas station.
The electric pickup trucks of the utilities will have juice to power emergency equipment too, till the grid comes back. All in all, in such an emergency, it is better to own an EV than a GasV.
An actual EV owner who lived through the hurricane, Tonya the Beetle reports
in the Reddit EV forum:
This is not meant to be bragging post but rather a counter argument to all the “But what happens when (insert natural disaster) and you can’t drive???” It’s tragic what other people are going through and just because I own an EV doesn’t mean I’m better.
Now to my experience:
I’m between New Orleans and Baton Rouge so Hurricane Ida passed directly over me and did knock out power. It was only for a day though. In that time I simply didn’t make any trips aside from a quick drive down the street and prior to the hurricane I let the car fully charge.
There really wasn’t any point in trying to drive to work or somewhere out of town since most roads were blocked by trees, downed power lines, or someone’s house. Even when power was restored at my house and my work was open again, it was still fairly dangerous to drive on account of traffic lights not working.
By the time power was restored, I could charge anytime I wanted to at my house or at work. On the other hand, gas stations were either out of fuel or had incredibly long lines that stretch out to the main road. Today is the second day I’m commuting to work and so far I have no issues getting fuel since I only need a standard 120v outlet.
For those worried about EVs during a natural disaster, you just aren’t going to travel while there’s no power. Or you’ll just go to a charging station if the power is out for longer than a few days. The road simply wouldn’t be safe to travel after a hurricane and by the time it’s safe, you can simply charge at home instead of waiting in line at a gas station.
Software production is assumed to be a line function, but it is run like a staff function. -- Paul Licker
