Hurricane Ida

[Hooked on Fenix]

I wonder if electric cars are sealed against water well enough to run while under water deeper than a car with a flooded tailpipe? Might get you through some of the rough spots if that is the case. I don't think they're any good during a hurricane that wipes out power to a state or two though. Wouldn't want to wait on a charge while a hurricane is bearing down on your location either. If they made electric cars amphibious, they might be useful for something. After Texas' power grid failed, and now Louisiana, I question the sanity of our elected officials trying to force us all into electric cars. Seems like that would make this situation a million times worse.

 

[Chauncey Gardiner]

I wonder if electric cars are sealed against water well enough to run while under water deeper than a car with a flooded tailpipe? Might get you through some of the rough spots if that is the case. I don't think they're any good during a hurricane that wipes out power to a state or two though. Wouldn't want to wait on a charge while a hurricane is bearing down on your location either. If they made electric cars amphibious, they might be useful for something. After Texas' power grid failed, and now Louisiana, I question the sanity of our elected officials trying to force us all into electric cars. Seems like that would make this situation a million times worse.

Water deep enough to reach a tailpipe might also be deep enough to float a lot of electric cars.

 

[turbodog]

I wonder if electric cars are sealed against water well enough to run while under water deeper than a car with a flooded tailpipe? Might get you through some of the rough spots if that is the case. I don't think they're any good during a hurricane that wipes out power to a state or two though. Wouldn't want to wait on a charge while a hurricane is bearing down on your location either. If they made electric cars amphibious, they might be useful for something. After Texas' power grid failed, and now Louisiana, I question the sanity of our elected officials trying to force us all into electric cars. Seems like that would make this situation a million times worse.

Saw a video where a dead electric car got towed while in regen mode. Was able to recharge the pack to a useful level pretty quickly. That would open some interesting possibilities. Rough on the towing vehicle.

As far as Ida goes... seems most are in pretty good shape. I didn't see many tornadoes spawned.

 

[jtr1962]

I wonder if electric cars are sealed against water well enough to run while under water deeper than a car with a flooded tailpipe? Might get you through some of the rough spots if that is the case. I don't think they're any good during a hurricane that wipes out power to a state or two though. Wouldn't want to wait on a charge while a hurricane is bearing down on your location either. If they made electric cars amphibious, they might be useful for something. After Texas' power grid failed, and now Louisiana, I question the sanity of our elected officials trying to force us all into electric cars. Seems like that would make this situation a million times worse.

This Tesla Model 3, Like All Teslas, Can Become A Boat For A Bit

Tesla's Elon Musk has said on multiple occasions that Tesla's vehicles can function as boats for a time. He doesn't advise it, but it has been proven true.

insideevs.com

When disasters happen, gas is usually one of the first things to run out. I'd rather have solar panels to charge an electric car than to be dependent upon gas supplies. With VTG, the car can even power your house after the sun goes down (then recharge the next day), in effect acting like a generator. Then there's the fact EVs are zero emissions, which you greatly appreciate if you happen to live in a place where the air quality stinks from all the gas cars. The sooner the conversion happens the better.

 

[idleprocess]

I wonder if electric cars are sealed against water well enough to run while under water deeper than a car with a flooded tailpipe? Might get you through some of the rough spots if that is the case. I don't think they're any good during a hurricane that wipes out power to a state or two though.

Eh, odds are that fording standing water will cause ingress into the battery pack - I believe they're merely splash-resistant. For a brief period this might be OK since they likely have drainage, but for a prolonged period of time you're apt to cause real problems.

EDIT: Some anecdotes that the Tesla Model S can manage brief partial submersion. Some video of such an attempt. Surely not recommended in the manual and may have warranty consequences.

The effective range of a fully-charged EV when one might spend a great deal of time driving very slowly and/or idling - such as escaping a disaster area - is apt to be significantly greater than that of a fully-fueled gasoline or diesel vehicle. As in you'd likely realize better than the rated range creeping along at 20 MPH or less vs the 40MPH or so used for the city driving rating.

Gas stations can't run pumps nor accept plastic payments during an electrical outage; the ability to override the lack of external comms and accept cash for franchise stations is uncertain. And of course fuel is quickly depleted during these times. As jtr has stated - a solar array capable of operating standalone could recharge one slowly without any special infrastructure; a gasoline/NG/LPG generator - portable or otherwise - could as well, but that's going to be a heck of an inefficient operation.

 

[raggie33]

i spent most my life with no car. so no gas wouldnt bother me. hect there will be less cars to run me over. which has happened to me more then once. it sucks

 

[turbodog]

...

I'd rather have solar panels to charge an electric car than to be dependent upon gas supplies....Then there's the fact EVs are zero emissions...

Most of these type things (large scale) happen with plenty of warning, giving plenty of time to fuel/charge. Often, the skies will be overcast for days afterwards... making charging a problem.

Nothing is zero emissions. No free lunch.

 

[raggie33]

i miss darrel he had the first ev car. he used to post a lot on this forum

 

[bykfixer]

There is a wonderful invention called a bicycle. They come in all kinds of shapes and sizes. Some have 4 wheels and a roof. Some are even electric powered. Battery konks out, no biggy because the drive train also works well using leg power.
Yup.

Bottom line is when you live in a place that is EIGHTEEN FEET BELOW SEA LEVEL, you make darn sure you have a way to get out. Especially when that city is parked next to said ocean and in the path of hurricanes.
Duh.

 

[idleprocess]

Bottom line is when you live in a place that is EIGHTEEN FEET BELOW SEA LEVEL, you make darn sure you have a way to get out. Especially when that city is parked next to said ocean and in the path of hurricanes.
Duh.

For many residents in the path of Ida the situation is the same as it was with Katrina - no car, no money, no way out.

 

[orbital]

+

Regrading solar panels::

this summer I'v been doing alot with solar panels setups, running them in parallel, series, making a number of different types of cables & connectors to power DC directly, or to charge up a lithium battery backup unit. Then inverting to AC.... or running stuff straight DC.
Factoring voltage ranges on things, Amp currents, ect, ect,
Rather mad scientist stuff & haven't bothered much it eat.

It can get involved.

Anyway, I thought about the idea on just charging up a EV on solar,,
trust me, it would be a very involved array $$$ //// boost converters, big cabling, and a bunch of other things you didn't thing of.
The best '100W' solar panels will give you around 80~85W real power on perfect sunny, cloudless days.
If you then think about the number 'series' of panels needed to get you to only 120VDC,, realty a big setup needed.
( because you would want to stay straight DC)

It sounds great to just charge your car from solar, but in practice, may not be what you expected.
....Still, solar charging is a meaningful endeavor or even a hobby, just be prepared for the initial investment.

_____________________________________________________________
edit:: although it may sound like it, I don't own an EV,
maybe a plug-in & gas unit down the road

 

[idleprocess]

It sounds great to just charge your car from solar, but in practice, may not be what you expected.
....Still, solar charging is a meaningful endeavor or even a hobby, just be prepared for the initial investment.

Presumably, one would use an existing offgrid-capable rooftop array for such an endeavor - ideally coupled to a capable battery bank to buffer supply vs demand.

However, if one had the gear to improvise something in the field that could spit out 120V 15A, a low-level wall charger could provide a few miles of range per hour given steady sunlight. Of course, walking would be faster while cycling would definitely be faster. Probably want those watts doing other things like keeping comms, lights, and small appliances running

 

[KITROBASKIN]

Curious how Hurricane Ida brings up talk of solar generated electricity. Certainly a good idea to have solar even in hurricane country, hopefully with a battle hardened mounting strategy. Our Stihl battery powered chainsaw could be a vital asset in a situation like southern Louisiana right now.
The father of my wife's daughters went Tesla fairly early on. His solar array is very substantial but it is a grid intertie. Not sure if he could charge his car without the grid, probably not.

 

[jtr1962]

Presumably, one would use an existing offgrid-capable rooftop array for such an endeavor - ideally coupled to a capable battery bank to buffer supply vs demand.

However, if one had the gear to improvise something in the field that could spit out 120V 15A, a low-level wall charger could provide a few miles of range per hour given steady sunlight. Of course, walking would be faster while cycling would definitely be faster. Probably want those watts doing other things like keeping comms, lights, and small appliances running

Or even better put those watts to work charging an e-bike or two. In terms of range per hour, it just went up by perhaps a factor of 20 or 30 or 40 compared to an EV. An e-bike going 20 mph maybe can go 50 miles on a 1 kW-hr battery. At 15 mph perhaps 75 miles. You can charge a 1 kW-hr pack in under an hour on 120V, 15A. Even better, seeing what the roads leading out of New Orleans looked like, you'll make better forward progress on an e-bike than in an electric car.

 

[orbital]

^

For sure jtr
I see a flood of electric scooters (mopeds) coming,
pencil me in for one.
Light, easy to charge up, put stuff under the seat from the store ect.
Honda & Yamaha are working on them now.

A couple 200W solar panels would do the trick here.

-what does this have to do w/ Ida?,, well it's the whole power grid discussion~energy

 

[jtr1962]

-what does this have to do w/ Ida?,, well it's the whole power grid discussion~energy

That and also how to evacuate from an oncoming hurricane.

BTW, it looks like Ida is the gift that keeps on giving. After pummeling Tennessee, Kentucky, W. Virginia, and Virginia with flooding rains it's set to drop 5 to 8 inches on PA, and perhaps up to 5 inches on the coastal mid-Atlantic states. This after Henri just gave NY and NJ a bunch of rain.

 

[Poppy]

Some sections of some communities in my area will see flooding if there is 3 inches of rain in a 24 hour period. The rivers are already pretty high, and the ground saturated. The remnants of Ida is projected to dump 6 - 8 inches in our area, in a 20 hour period. Yes, there will be flooding. Just as in some areas of New Orleans, people in these flood prone areas, are given the option of raising their homes on pilings, or selling their homes to the Government for destruction. Eventually the area will become a larger wildlife wetlands refuge.

 

[jtr1962]

About 9 inches of water in the basement. It came up from the traps. Apparently more water than the city sewers could handle. I'll wait for it drain once the rain stops then begin the cleanup. This is the worst flooding I remember in the 43 years I've been here.

 

[raggie33]

us last year

 

[scout24]

6.5" here at our house, and we woke to a sunny 50° morning. We're up on a small hill so thankfully no flooding here. Will go into town later this morning to see how they fared, I expect areas of washed out roads and flooding based on a lot less rain causing those things. Hang in there everyone.