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The answer really is that the vast majority of people that own EVs simply do not have an EV as their only vehicle. It is bought as a second or third vehicle.
People that used them, used them successfully. So again, I don't know where you get the idea that it was a bad idea, other than the general what-if-ism of modern society. And we can what if any sort of scenario where taking ANY sort of car would have been a bad idea. But it didn't happen that way. Tesla owners took their cars out of the area successfully. Tesla temporarily opened up the capacity of the smaller car's battery packs to help them get out of the area (the equivalent of carrying a jerry can to extend your gas car's range).
The OP asked if anyone used Teslas to escape Irma (and then argued about how many). The answer is yes, many did. And none got inconvenienced any more than drivers of gas powered cars. None got stranded that we know of. Just like you know of no gas powered cars that got left behind because they couldn't find gas.
I think this is all we need. The EV market is still in it's infancy and it would be foolish to be used as your sole mode of transportation (except for specific circumstances). Until it matures, ICE are the way to go for now
Teslas are too rare for that. That's like saying the guy in the bicycle made it, so that's a 100% success rate. Doesn't mean I'm doing it.
I still haven't heard of any cars not making it out at all.
What about the people who couldn't leave because they couldn't get gas in the first place?
I heard electicity and water do not mix well. How low does the water have to be to keep the batteries out of water?
It can be higher than the depth of the puddle that killed my last BMW 740iL (which sucked water into the low mounted intake and hydrolocked).
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I heard half of Fla was out of power today, where are those plug ins some were assuming are always on?
Same place as the gas stations that were out of gas.
And the Houston gas stations that had their gas tanks filled with silty water from the flooding.
In an emergency, **** doesn't work. Some people will be inconvenienced no matter what kind of vehicle they drive. But we were talking about the evacuation, which happened before power went out.
You can play this game all day long. For every scenario you make up about how an EV can fail you, we can do the same for a gas powered car. Pretending that a gas powered car has no limitations is as stupid as pretending an EV has no advantages and vice versa. But the reality is more important than the type of car you drive, was planning and leaving early.
Except EVs are inferior to gas engines. The only reason Tesla owners made it out is because pretty much nobody else evacuated with a Tesla. Otherwise they would spend the night at a charging station waiting for a charge. Tesla already has a problem with long queue times just on holidays much less entire state evacuations in the same direction. Wait till the Model 3's hit the road.
What about the people who couldn't leave because they couldn't get gas in the first place?
They didn't prepare in enough time. There was plenty of gas available up until the procrastinators started coming out. I grew up in a hurricane area and we are well versed in gearing up for hurricane season. You start prepping the minute you hear of the possibility that it might hit you. You don't wait to see if it will miss you or not. By then, it's too late.
Even though we are only going to get the wind left over from Irma tonight and tomorrow we are prepared in the event of a power outage.
I have 5 5 gallon gas cans with 87 octane in them.
My RZR has a 9 gallon tank that is full if I had to siphon from it (or if we needed to use it to get somewhere)
Our Expedition has a full tank (31 gallons).
My diesel truck has a full tank (34 gallons).
I have 10 more gallons of diesel on standby.
(If we don't need any of this, no biggie. We will burn it in the vehicles over the next couple of weeks.)
My camper is stocked with food, water, and the fresh water tank is full (40 gallons).
You do all this in the week(s) PRIOR to the emergency. Not the day before.
As it sits right now if we only need the Expedition at 16 mpg, we could go almost 900 miles before we would need to find a gas station in operation.
If we needed to take the truck, camper, and Expedition we would be limited to the range of the truck. With camper it averages 14 mpg. We could make it around 600 miles before we would have to find diesel.
The difference with these electric vehicles and their fossil fuel counterparts in this situation is that I can carry more energy with me and replenish it when needed. If there is no power or gas stations that won't matter for quite some time. With the Tesla, unless you intend to carry a spare battery (not really possible with them) you are limited to ~300 miles period.
They didn't prepare in enough time. There was plenty of gas available up until the procrastinators started coming out. I grew up in a hurricane area and we are well versed in gearing up for hurricane season. You start prepping the minute you hear of the possibility that it might hit you. You don't wait to see if it will miss you or not. By then, it's too late.
With the Tesla, unless you intend to carry a spare battery (not really possible with them) you are limited to ~300 miles period.
On one hand, you say you won't have a problem because you prep in advance and get out early (no procrastination) then on the other hand, you act like EV owners would only procrastinate and that none of them would plan in advance and get out early. You can't have it both ways. Procrastinators will have limited range and ability regardless of type of vehicle they drive, and people that prep ahead of time will not, regardless of what kind of vehicle they drive. It's not about the car, but about the people. As is evidenced by the fact that many Tesla owners obviously went more than 300 miles in evacuation. They obviously knew it was coming and were prepared, and were thus not inconvenienced any more than gasoline car drivers.
On one hand, you say you won't have a problem because you prep in advance and get out early (no procrastination) then on the other hand, you act like EV owners would only procrastinate and that none of them would plan in advance and get out early. You can't have it both ways. Procrastinators will have limited range and ability regardless of type of vehicle they drive, and people that prep ahead of time will not, regardless of what kind of vehicle they drive. It's not about the car, but about the people. As is evidenced by the fact that many Tesla owners obviously went more than 300 miles in evacuation. They obviously knew it was coming and were prepared, and were thus not inconvenienced any more than gasoline car drivers.
I get that... but I was referring to the OP saying that you could stop during the panic and recharge. If everything is in chaos you can't. But if you at least had gas on hand you could easily keep the engine running for quite some time instead of trying to fight the lines to recharge or get gas.
My point is that with EV, you can't store energy for later use as you can with fossil fuels.
I get that... but I was referring to the OP saying that you could stop during the panic and recharge. If everything is in chaos you can't. But if you at least had gas on hand you could easily keep the engine running for quite some time instead of trying to fight the lines to recharge or get gas.
My point is that with EV, you can't store energy for later use as you can with fossil fuels.
Someone gets it. Unless Tesla owners make it a habit to have backup batteries at the ready.
It will take minimal planning and cost to store an extra 5, 10, 20 gallons of fuel.
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