Unprepared EV Owners On East Coast Could Be Stranded for Weeks

The debate about the value of electric cars just got another jolt.

In the aftermath of superstorm Sandy, unprepared electic vehicle owners in the Northeast were out of luck. With power grids and public charging stations down there was, and in some places still is no way to get energy into their cars.

According to automotive analyst Thilo Koslowski, the storm has revealed the one major vulnerability with electric cars: that a backup infrastructure is almost non-existent.

“If the outages continue, this will negatively impact consumer interest,” he told FoxNews.com. “We will need to address the issue of electricity shortages if we want to have a growing share of EVs.”

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vdiv - 11/6/2012 11:51:10 AM

0 Boost

It's actually easier to find a working charging station or even a regular outlet in NJ than a working gas station that doesn't have a couple of miles long line snaking through town or blocking the Turnpike/Parkway.

Not to mention that EVs are great as backup power and EREVs and PHEVs are very efficient as generators.

Nice try Fox News/009.

Agent009 - 11/6/2012 1:32:24 PM

+2 Boost

Vdiv- I guess you could push the car to a plug rather than take a 5 gallon jug of fuel to it. Take you choice.

vdiv - 11/6/2012 2:15:58 PM

0 Boost

Or drive it and charge it at werk, where there is power, then drive it home not waiting at any gas line and completely oblivious to what the gas prices are these days.

It a choice and I've taken it, have you at least seriously considered it?

Agent009 - 11/7/2012 8:35:16 AM

+2 Boost

So far the only options down here are the possible Best Buy and a few Kroger Grocery stores. I work in a 45 story building and there are no hookups in it. So my 30 mile commute could only be one way without a charge in the typical EV.

A quick look reveals there are only 7 charging stations in the whole of downtown Dallas, and the closest to work is 4.5 miles away. So yes I could charge at home and hopefully find a charging station, then hop a bus over to work. That would turn a 40 min commute to about a 60 to 70 mins, possibly more.

Then add the limited range and the distance involved means typically that errands on the the way home are probably out of the question. My suburb of over 100,000 people only has 2 stations listed, so even then range may be a factor even up there.

So yeah I have considered it, and a full EV is out of the question.

vdiv - 11/7/2012 3:06:26 PM

+1 Boost

How about an EREV or a PHEV? Two energy sources are better than one.

Also, you do not need a charging station to charge an EV, just a regular powered outlet. The garage of the building I used to work at in Central Joysey back in 1999 had dedicated NEMA L6-30r 240V power outlets for 8 EV parking spots. The garage in my current workplace has GFCI outlets in every corner. More progressive employers, esp. those of tech. companies, but even pizza restaurants, have charging stations.

http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/02/electric-car-owners-unfazed-by-storm/

Many businesses or municipalities will allow you to plug in at outdoor outlets for things like holiday decorations or diesel engine block heaters. Even homeowners share their outlets. There is an app for that too: http://www.plugshare.com

EV drivers are often better prepared for power interruption. They have solar panels, some of which can be isolated from the grid and used with marine batteries, backup generators that run on gasoline, diesel, propane bottles or natural gas from the gas company.

http://insideevs.com/driving-electric-cars-during-blackouts-and-gas-crises/

That is the beauty of electrical power, it is portable and it is everywhere, it can be produced from a wide variety of energy sources, including renewable ones, and no single company or cartel has a monopoly over it.

MBguy - 11/6/2012 9:36:22 PM

+1 Boost

Ummm... Gasoline pumps at filling stations need electricity to work, or they are useless.

Found out the hard way in the 1994 Northridge (Los Angeles) earthquake.