Electric Cars Can Power Through an Outage
Photo: General Motors
Typically, when you lose power in your home due to a storm or electrical outage, you have to wait it out until the electric company can restore it. But, what about your electric vehicle? Is it possible to keep it moving during a power outage?
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Just because you’re in the midst of a power outage doesn’t mean your electric car is at a standstill, too, according to David M. Kuchta of Treehugger.
“There are more ways to charge an EV in an outage than there are ways to fuel a gasoline car. And any of those ways is safer than storing highly flammable gasoline at your residence,” they add.
Installing solar panels on your roof will not only save you money on utility bills, it can also be a valid power source for your electric vehicle during an outage. It has to be the right kind of solar system though.
Kuchta reports that “some solar systems come with automatic shutoffs and algorithms so that they can continue sending electricity into your home or your car while disconnecting it from the grid.”
If possible, expand your search outside the outage area, he suggests. You might be able to find a usable charging station, but if there isn’t one within a reasonable distance, you’re probably better off just waiting.
If you have access to another building with power, you could also improvise with an available 110-watt outlet and your charging cables, adds Kuchta.
Although these methods are viable, they are not exactly simple or efficient. MotorBiscuit.com writer Gabrielle DeSantis hopes that manufacturers will step up and deliver better solutions. Until then, she suggests using the power from your EV to help at home instead of on the road.
“This could be useful to homeowners that don’t have gas-powered generators or even benefit hospitals that need electricity to power critical life-saving and life-sustaining machines,” DeSantis reports.
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Even though keeping an EV charged poses certain challenges, an EV is still worth your consideration if you’re looking to get a new vehicle.
DeAnn Owens is a Dayton transplant by way of the Windy City, yet considers herself to be a California girl at heart even though she’s only visited there once. To get through the dreaded allergy season unique to the Miami Valley, she reads, writes, complains about the weather, and enjoys spending time with her husband, two sons, and their newest addition, a Boston terrier puppy that is now in charge of all their lives. In the future, she hopes to write a novel and travel through time. See more articles by DeAnn.