New comment on “They’re Trying to Silence Us: The G20’s War on Climate Skepticism” By Charles Rotter on November 22, 2024 TOM SHEPSTONE

We had a snowstorm here Thursday night. It dropped about 14-15” of heavy wet snow that had predictable impacts on our local grid. I'm writing this on Saturday evening and here is a PPL map of outages

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We had a snowstorm here Thursday night. It dropped about 14-15” of heavy wet snow that had predictable impacts on our local grid. I'm writing this on Saturday evening and here is a PPL map of outages that haven't yet been rectified:

Each of orange/red circles represents an area without restored electric service and when we focus in on them we get this as an example:

Yes, this area, located just outside my hometown, has as many as 309 customers without power and PPL has no idea when power will be restored. Residents of several other areas are told it will likely be Monday before their blackouts are over.

Now, imagine you're an EV owner trying to survive. There's no electricity except in my little downtown where there is a single charging station that almost never gets used but was installed courtesy of taxpayers who never voted for it, of course.

Imagine further that your EV needs a charge. You can't charge it at home. Yet, you don't dare run into town because the single charger available there may suddenly be in demand given that so many others also lack power at home. You don't have enough charge to wait hours in line.

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The only semi-realistic option, of course, is to install a generator and here is what Perplexity says about that:

Most electric vehicles can charge from any source of electricity that is compatible with their charging systems. This includes generators, as long as the generator provides the appropriate voltage and current levels. Generally, EVs can be charged using:

• Level 1 Charging: This utilizes a standard 120-volt outlet and is the slowest method, providing about 5 miles of range per hour of charging. Most portable generators can support this level of charging.

• Level 2 Charging: This requires a 240-volt outlet and is more efficient, offering about 25 miles of range per hour. To effectively charge at this level, a generator should ideally produce at least 10 kW of power.

So, if the generator provides Level 1 charging, you'll have to run it overnight just to get enough juice to go to town and back, but that assumes you don't have to power anything else, which, of course, you would have to do to keep warm and not despoil all your food. And, you'll have to have a supply of some fossil fuel to run the generator unless you go with a solar generator, but that's unlikely to solve your problem:

• Capacity of Solar Generators: Most portable solar generators have limited capacity, often around 2 kWh. This amount of energy could provide approximately 6-8 miles of range for a typical EV, depending on its efficiency. For example, a generator with a 2 kWh capacity might only add about 8 miles of range, making it impractical for regular charging needs unless you have very low daily mileage.

• Charging Speed: Charging an EV with a solar generator is generally slower compared to traditional charging stations. A full charge can take significantly longer—potentially 10-20 hours—depending on the generator's output and the vehicle's battery size.

So, if you're depending on an EV in a snowstorm like we just had where I live, you're likely stuck in the snow with nowhere to go. Yet, our governments across the West are trying to force us into them. Or, are they trying to get us out of cars altogether? Regardless, what the storm shows is the cavalier and dismissive attitude of our policy makers, who mostly come from urban areas, for their country cousins. It is a pervasive sort of condescension on the order of "let them eat cake” or "what's the matter with Kansas” at work. They suppose we should all live in 15-minute cities designed by them for us and have no cars.

It's the same attitude we see on display in so many areas of life today in the West. It's also what was overwhelmingly rejected by rural voters in swing states during our recent election. "Let them eat cake” is never smart. Nor is “own nothing and be happy.” Trying to force us into EVs or out of our cars isn't bright either.

#EVs #Blackouts #WinterStorms #Rural #Snowstorm #Generators