Hurricane Helene hit Florida late Thursday night, leaving people without electricity. For those who bought a Tesla Cybertruck, this is the real-world test of its Powershare feature, which allows it to power the house and keep the lights on in an outage.
Bad weather and natural disasters have become part of our lives, and every year, we hear stories about power outages wreaking havoc on communities across the US. The Americans are especially vulnerable to utilities going out due to the fragmented grid, which doesn't provide redundancy. If the local grid is overwhelmed or down, there's often no outside connection to provide backup. The only thing that helps, besides emergency teams, is having solar panels and an energy storage system such as the Powerwall.
In the past years, there's also a new kind of relief offered by electric vehicles, which can provide electricity to a home. Vehicle to Home (V2H) allows an EV battery to function as a backup power in an outage. It's like a Powerwall, only much bigger, keeping the lights on for more days even if solar cannot provide enough power. Even if a house is not equipped with a V2H-compatible charger, the fact that you can run a cable from your EV's outlets to power critical appliances like a refrigerator can go a long way in an emergency.
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