Hurricane and electric vs gas

I was just thinking tonight of the folks in Florida facing evacuation. If you had an electric vehicle and needed to drive north some distance to evacuate could it be done with a surge of people in an electric?

Think of the lines for a charging station as opposed to gas up and leaving with thousands doing it at the same time?

If you were in Miami and needed to get as far north as Tallahassee that’s 480 miles and I am sure stop and go a lot with poor economy.

Not to mention if you stay and lose power for a few weeks how do you recharge.

Just thinking out loud about the future and I guess even though I am not a Floridian (hope to be) I am not sold on this electric stuff yet.

 

Ya I just saw a Chevy EV commercial and I thought to myself they will run for a year and a half tops.

 

Good thought, I guess they could pack a generator in the trunk.

 

Interesting thought. Hopeful that they all make it out, or are safe at home etc...

For me, this situation (and similar) is the exact reason I own a 4Runner. I'm not a bugout/prepper type person, but I have a lot of equipment and supplies stored in the 4R mostly for off roading/camping. I try to keep the gas tank semi full. Knowing it is there is peace of mind. The best part is, I know it will always start.

As far as electric cars, they have their merits. As a true gearhead, I'm not a fan. In a situation where you would need to travel a long distance without stopping too much, I'd rather be in any gas car (short of a pt cruiser) than a Tesla or similar.

Not sure if it is true, but I read that the average American city/town/suburbia street cannot support more than 2 electric cars' charging needs. Here in CA, we are on the brink of rolling blackouts anytime the heat picks up, so I don't find it all that hard to believe. The power grid just isn't ready for everyone to be driving all electric. I'll stick with gas, may eventually have to go hybrid, and by the time I'm forced to drive all electric, I'll take up smoking again and hope for the best

 

I've been part of these discussions in the past. They dont usually go very well.
Having lived in Florida for over 55 years and involved in numerous evacs, I have brought this subject to the table many times.
The whole state pretty much shuts down for the gasoline and lodging infrastructure, with Georgia/SC getting a good bit of the evac overflow.
All I have to add is your plans do not always come to fruition, when several million people have similar plans.
The same could also be said for blizzard conditions, which sometimes arent as forgiving when forecasting a timeline.
Having an EV w an ICE backup for these situations would be my immediate solution, but the current sentiment by some is that we can go all EV sooner than later, so building a water and wind proof shelter might prove more advantageous.

 

In those types of emergency situations, how reliable are gas stations? If the power grid is knocked offline, are fuel stations still able to operate?

I'm genuinely asking.

Where I'm from, people generally fill their fuel tanks before the disaster hits, (generally hurricanes/blizzards) as long as it's forecasted. I imagine one could do the same with charging an EV.

Being able to refuel/recharge when evacuating is important too, of course, but I just wonder if it's that easy to get a tank of gas if everyone is trying to evacuate at the same time.

 

It's definitely going to be inconvenient for anyone involved.

I would think that some gas stations would have back-up generators, which could run the pumps. One scenario I read about, though, credit card machines did not work, so having cash was a good thing.

The biggest concern to me is that it takes a lot longer to charge an electric vehicle than it does to fuel up an ICE vehicle. In addition, most standby generators are not going to produce enough power to keep the "super" chargers working, so you're looking at very long charge times.

Another advantage to ICE in this scenario is the ability to carry extra fuel. With proper planning, those with ICE vehicles could carry enough fuel with them to get to the next state. I'm sure someone with an EV could haul a portable generator, but again they would have to run that for hours to get a significant amount of charge.

When electric vehicles do become the norm, I am curious to see what kind of solutions for these types of scenarios come along.

 

Should be moved to "off topic".

 

Just normally used to posting in this forum sorry if should have posted in another area.

Who knows maybe the 6th Gen will have EV option, nobody seems to know for sure. I tried to delete thread but do not see how that is possible now

 

Probably not a big deal. But, you could ask a moderator to move the thread.

I'm pretty sure only moderators can delete a thread. Based on how the last EV thread went, they'll probably end up deleting or locking this eventually, anyway.

From what it sounds like, a plug in hybrid, or some type of hybrid should be an option on the 6th gen. But, the standard motor will probably be a turbo 4.

 

Gosh those turbo 4s scare me a bit about the towing capacity as do EV.

The 4R is perfect size vehicle for me to tow a moderate boat or trailer and still fit it in the garage. There is not much left in that segment other than say Jeep Cherokee which I would not trust quality.

I remember when the eco boost came out and buddies had them. Towing seemed to mess up the turbos.

 

This has been discussed before, but the turbo 4 we're probably getting makes significantly more torque than the current V6, and at lower RPM's. So, power is definitely not an issue. Also, most EV's have oodles of torque, so my only concern there would be reduced range.

Reliability has yet to be determined. Personally, I am not worried about it. But, there are always those who don't think it's possible for a turbo motor to be reliable. I'll wait to see what really happens before I make up my mind.

 

I’m one of those people who think EVs have a lot of advantages over ICE and one day many of the biggest critics of EVs will be driving them and actually liking those advantages. They’ll also conveniently forget the many crackpot criticisms of EVs that they used to spew.

But given the current state of the technology I definitely rather have an ICE for a bug out situation. Sure, gas stations close, they need power, etc etc etc. We’ve seen it all before. Remember Sandy? Getting gas was a huge problem for days. But the range is still better with ICE, as is the ability to top off before you need to hoof it, as is the ability to fuel up once you escape the bad areas. For an emergency, there’s really nothing better right now than a tough and reliable ICE like the 4R. That’s one of the reasons I got mine.

 

PRIME (plug in Hybrid) vehicle, best of both worlds, for the infrastructure to truly get up and going, we need an in between.

 

They are nice I think the EV Cadillac is $300k. Then the EV Silverado is gonna be a little less and they won’t even show you the EV Camaro yet.

 

$300k? Umm guess I won’t be driving much after this 4R.

 

I can’t believe the money GM is building huge EV plants and we lived to see it’s like Back to the Future.

 

There’s an Aptera motors in San Diego that has a 1,000 mile range vehicle already.

 

230k on my turbo Volvo with zero turbo related issues. I'm sold on turbos.

 

The Swedes have been building car engines with turbos for a long time. They know what they are doing, and their customers won't put up with unreliability.

Can't say the same for other manufacturers.

 

I figure Toyota knows something about reliability, and customers that expect it.

 

I agree. Question is - what is Toyota's experience with Turbos? Doesn't seem like they have sold many in the U.S., I wonder how many they make / sell for other nations?

 

They've put them in the 4Runner, Supra, Celica, MR2, Soarer, and others in the past. Currently, they're using a Turbo 4 in the Lexus NX, LS (and maybe others) and the Tundra. There have been some problems with the Tundra, but I'm hoping it's just first year bugs.

Edit:. They're also using a small turbo engine in the GR Corolla and GR Yaris.

 

That’s not the one they showed on the news a couple weeks ago. $300k

 

Thank you. I have not been paying enough attention. I'll admit to being wary of turbos - but with that kind of heritage, I feel better about it.

 

What’s needed to make EV’s practical on a large scale:

1. Double the current power generation.
2. Beefed-up grid.
3. Swappable batteries that can be changed out in a matter of minutes.
4. Charging accommodations for apartment dwellers.
5. Electric vehicles that don’t spontaneously combust.

But any adoption of these things will be stymied by those who see electric cars as an inconvenience to drive us all towards public transportation.

 

Not sure if it’s a thing yet, but if you could charge your car with solar panels then the over landing enthusiasts could stay out in the wild indefinitely.

 

Me, as an EV adopter, I would choose an ICE in this particular Florida situation. Faster to fill up, can carry a few jerrycans with me. If I was in Florida, I would have an EV and a large SUV or truck on gas. It's the reality of life.
However. There is always another side of the coin. Planning is key in this part of the world.
It is not always about range.Think about the hundred of thousand of cars on I95 driving north. EV or ICE, they all sit the same in traffic. Florida is kinda stuck with water on 3 sides, no an ideal situation. Have this in Tennessee, they can go all 4 directions.
Maybe better to plan ahead of time, disregarding ICE or EV. Maybe leave earlier. Maybe put some $ into protecting the house better, like someone else said earlier in the thread. (@MI-FL off roader)
Also, Florida has been good for so many years; one cant just live their life in constant fear and model your life for that one hurricane that will kill them all. It is a hurricane today or an earthquake tomorrow.

Do not forget how Elon Musk released, to all Florida Tesla owners, the full battery range capacity to get out of harms way. it worked just fine over the air. This cannot be done with an ICE.
As for your earlier post, I agree with some and some are just plain ignorant.

1. You don't need to double the current power generation. Thats not the problem. US electric infrastructure is the problem, getting it to the last leg. Things are changing and US is not going to be left behind.
2. See #1.
3. Thats just dumb. Currently it takes a tesla about 20 min to get like 200 miles range. Things will get better in time.
4. Building codes are being updated every day. Outfitting every parking lot in a building is a matter of running some gauge 00 wires and set up a receptacle to each spot. Again, not a deal breaker, and this will look very different in 10 years.
5. Thats just ignorant. Just because ICE cars dont make the news then they burn down to a crisp, doesn't make them any better. Afterall, in case of an accident, you are still potentially sitting on 30 gallons of gas. Think that you show some flame ?

 

I always fill up before a bad snow fall, you never know, that’s why I opted for a 32 gallon fuel tank on the new truck I ordered. I won’t let that get past half a tank before filling up though lol!