> So we’ve effectively tied two pieces of critical infrastructure together and made one dependent upon the other.
Worse: POTS and ISDN landlines are getting shut down left and right (at least in Germany, probably also in the US) as there are simply no linecard manufacturers remaining. Everything is switched to CPE-terminated VoIP crap (ever tried sending a fax with a fax machine linked on a consumer VoIP circuit?). So even if you HAVE a landline, its usability for 911 depends on the DSLAM having backup power (which many only have for 24-48h).
"No power = no cell coverage" is not an unavoidable state of nature. Cell towers can and should have autonomous generators, that's a thing popular even in places that are both less wealthy and less prone to power outages than California.
I'm assuming backup power is a diesel generator, though, right? My experience with long-term WA outages is that the diesel runs out in a few days, and no one comes to refill it.
Amateur radio license: if my wife can pass the test, anyone on HN ought to be able to.
There are products and concepts to allow using your EV battery as a power source for your home. Imagine treating your Tesla as a Powerwall during an outage. This would really turn the EV into an asset in such situations. Obviously you wouldn't be able to actually drive your car while using it this way.
A little late now, but can you get a device to run your house power off the car battery? At least in Japan you can buy one for the Leaf for about $5K. In the power failures following the big typhoon I have heard reports of it coming in quite handy. Of course, you don't drive the car unless it's to a place where you know you can recharge it, but 60 KWh of power will keep your basic fridge/lights/cooking facilities up for quite a long time if you are careful.
I'm spitballin' here, but a couple of the standard Hondas (EU2000s?) will give you, say, 3000W. The onboard charger on our Leaf is 3300W (first-gen). It takes seven hours from empty to full. I'll leave the extrapolation to a Tesla as an exercise for the reader. Oh, wait a minute, I don't recall that a Honda will have a 240V plug into which you'll plug the Level 2 charger. So you're stuck with Level 1, and then you might as well just shut down that second generator.
So, it would take however long it takes to charge a Tesla using a 120V outlet. Unless I'm wrong about the 240V plug part.
In all fairness, multi-day power outages are a really rare event in a lot of places. And many households that own an EV also own an ICE vehicle. Also if power is out, you're not going to be able to fuel up either in the affected area.
But, yes, with extended power outages the general shift towards cell phones, EVs, etc. can make the consequences of not having electricity worse. Presumably at some point there will be more single-home panels and batteries that allow for extended disconnection from the grid but we're mostly not there today.
>In all fairness, multi-day power outages are a really rare event in a lot of places. And many households that own an EV also own an ICE vehicle. Also if power is out, you're not going to be able to fuel up either in the affected area.
Hah. I thought about this. In NY, we lost power for a month after hurricane sandy because the public utility completely imploded due the years of corruption finally reaching criticality when the hurricane came through. It was so bad they privatized the power grid. Anyone with a EV would have been absolutely fucked in the meantime. We even had gasoline rationing because :surprise: many gas stations had no power to run the pumps. (Gas stations now mandated by law to have generators).
Present, one is better off having an ICE vehicle instead of an EV if one lives anywhere with bad weather events and not living in a city where you can just walk everywhere.
Fair enough. And a lot of people in New England were without power for weeks after an ice storm about 10 years ago. Fortunately I was only out for a few days.
As you suggest even gas can be a problem but it would likely be less of a problem than an EV.
>If gas stations were without power and being rationed, sounds like ICE vehicle owners were pretty fucked too.
Yes, but the problem has been very easily corrected for little cost (law mandating generators which don't take much to run pumps, not to mention they can run off the gasoline in the station).
The problem is, gasoline stations only exist by and large because of existing ICE demand. If the switch to EVs happened, gasoline stations would disappear fast given they operate on tight margins. The next major storm after that critical mass switchover and things will be ulgy.
No power = no cell coverage
Landlines are a thing of the past and for the most part that means that people lack the ability to call for help beyond your basic 911 service.
So we’ve effectively tied two pieces of critical infrastructure together and made one dependent upon the other.
That needs to be addressed and resolved.