A generator is one option, solar panels or just regular battery backups are another option.
If the grid is up but overloaded you can also just charge slower, which for 99% of people will work.
At least you can charge your car at all, if there is an actual power outage, the gas pumps won’t be working at all, and even if they are, it requires so much infrastructure to deliver gas to the pumps that they won’t be working for long.
Edit: since when did an expensive car equal easy to operate? Historically, the more expensive the car gets the more caveats to the operation there are.
no it isnt… what the fuck are u talking about that generator has an extra shitty ice engine in it plus the losses on the generator, batteries, and motors. its way less efficient, theres no need to lie, EV are marginally better than ICE cars even if u dont lie about extreme edge cases like this.
first, they arent running at the optimum rpm, the electric load on it slows it down and most generators are rated such that when outputting their maximum power they are above the load when they would be most efficient and u better fucking believe that charging a car has it at its limit. Its still much closer to optimal than an ice engine in a car but certainly not optimal.
second and more importantly small generators like that are usually at most 18% efficient where as modern ice cars are usually a little over 20% efficient and then that 18% gets multiplied by the around 95% efficiency of evs so yeah no theres no fucking way that is more efficient. If it was even a small “portable” powerplant it would be a different story even a small gas turbine would be more efficient than an ice car, but not that shitty little thing.
and again theres no need to pretend, this is an extreme case that would only happen rarely even taking it into account evs are better (even tho they are still cars and therefore dont fix 99.9% of the problems with cars)
So I’ve heard this lots of places but never done the math, so I sat down this afternoon to try and work it out and…it’s super complicated. The generator in the picture might not charge the car at all…if it is, it’s probably a trickle charge like plugging into a 120v outlet…which means running the generator for a very long time for a very small charge which means it’s super inefficient…depending on your starting assumptions you get anywhere from 11 - 20 miles of charge out of a gallon of fuel for the generator, which is less efficient than tha average of 31 mpg for a 2022 sedan…so in that case, it’s less efficient. The more normal use case would be a whole-home generator powering a level 2 or 3 charger in your garage… which can be more efficient than an ICE engine assuming a high-efficiency generator and EV. Additionally, generators don’t typically have emissions controls, so from a carbon standpoint, it’s WAY worse than an ICE with a catalytic converter.
Edit: since when did an expensive car equal easy to operate? Historically, the more expensive the car gets the more caveats to the operation there are.
My favorite example of this is the BMW i8. Here is a video which shows how to open the hood. Even the dealership recommends to the sales team taking the car into the shop and having trained technicians…open the hood. I guess its “Fuck You” if you ever break down on the side of the road. https://youtu.be/fxe_b2GRwok?si=MGy3lwov8bd36-4m
A generator is one option, solar panels or just regular battery backups are another option.
If the grid is up but overloaded you can also just charge slower, which for 99% of people will work.
At least you can charge your car at all, if there is an actual power outage, the gas pumps won’t be working at all, and even if they are, it requires so much infrastructure to deliver gas to the pumps that they won’t be working for long.
Edit: since when did an expensive car equal easy to operate? Historically, the more expensive the car gets the more caveats to the operation there are.
Also of note, this is still more fuel efficient than using an ICE vehicle.
no it isnt… what the fuck are u talking about that generator has an extra shitty ice engine in it plus the losses on the generator, batteries, and motors. its way less efficient, theres no need to lie, EV are marginally better than ICE cars even if u dont lie about extreme edge cases like this.
Yes, I have read that it is. The generator runs at most efficient RPM and doesn’t have idle time, etc.
That’s a good point! How much energy gets lost through the generator, do you reckon?
first, they arent running at the optimum rpm, the electric load on it slows it down and most generators are rated such that when outputting their maximum power they are above the load when they would be most efficient and u better fucking believe that charging a car has it at its limit. Its still much closer to optimal than an ice engine in a car but certainly not optimal.
second and more importantly small generators like that are usually at most 18% efficient where as modern ice cars are usually a little over 20% efficient and then that 18% gets multiplied by the around 95% efficiency of evs so yeah no theres no fucking way that is more efficient. If it was even a small “portable” powerplant it would be a different story even a small gas turbine would be more efficient than an ice car, but not that shitty little thing.
and again theres no need to pretend, this is an extreme case that would only happen rarely even taking it into account evs are better (even tho they are still cars and therefore dont fix 99.9% of the problems with cars)
So I’ve heard this lots of places but never done the math, so I sat down this afternoon to try and work it out and…it’s super complicated. The generator in the picture might not charge the car at all…if it is, it’s probably a trickle charge like plugging into a 120v outlet…which means running the generator for a very long time for a very small charge which means it’s super inefficient…depending on your starting assumptions you get anywhere from 11 - 20 miles of charge out of a gallon of fuel for the generator, which is less efficient than tha average of 31 mpg for a 2022 sedan…so in that case, it’s less efficient. The more normal use case would be a whole-home generator powering a level 2 or 3 charger in your garage… which can be more efficient than an ICE engine assuming a high-efficiency generator and EV. Additionally, generators don’t typically have emissions controls, so from a carbon standpoint, it’s WAY worse than an ICE with a catalytic converter.
My favorite example of this is the BMW i8. Here is a video which shows how to open the hood. Even the dealership recommends to the sales team taking the car into the shop and having trained technicians…open the hood. I guess its “Fuck You” if you ever break down on the side of the road. https://youtu.be/fxe_b2GRwok?si=MGy3lwov8bd36-4m