this post was submitted on 31 Dec 2023
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An electric vehicle owner has used her car’s emergency power system to run her 11-year-old son’s lifesaving dialysis machine and another has ridden to the rescue of his neighbours after devastating storms cut power in south-east Queensland.

When the power went down following storms and flash flooding on Christmas Day, many residents immediately felt the consequences: electric gates did not work, septic tanks began to fill, air conditioners could not run and fridges began to warm as a heatwave followed.

But some electric vehicle drivers whose cars are equipped with “vehicle to load” systems – a back-up power system that allows the car to act as an emergency generator or supply for devices such as lights, laptops, TVs and refrigerators – stepped in to help out and, in some cases, save lives.

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[–] snf 30 points 10 months ago (4 children)

Not to spoil the party, but this would have worked with a gas car and an inverter right? Although for sure it's much more convenient to have the feature built-in and not need to get any extra kit

[–] [email protected] 20 points 10 months ago

Yeah, I did this for the last hurricane that knocked out our power. $10k worth of meds in our fridge for two of our kids had to stay cold & I didn't have a generator yet. Now I have a generator & a solar battery kit.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 10 months ago (2 children)

I have a gas powered car, it has a mains outlet in the back of the center console. As far as I know this isn't anything special or new. My car is a 2016 Chevy nothing special.

[–] reddig33 16 points 10 months ago (1 children)

The special part is there’s no risk of carbon monoxide poisoning and it’s about 1/3 of the energy costs.

Vehicle to grid chargers mean you can use your electric car as a house backup battery when the power goes out. Not all EVs support this yet, but it should become commonplace in the next two years.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Having a static battery in the house that gets additional cycles, isn't a big issue. Who cares if the capacity decreases by an additional 10 percent because of added cycles. Just get a battery that's 10 percent larger from the start or add additional cells when you feel like it. In a mobile form factor, 10 percent can be a big difference. You can't just scale up the battery when you feel like it and in the worst case scenario you would have to replace it. That's why I would always be very conservative with using a car battery that way.

[–] thallamabond 4 points 10 months ago

Those in car outlets are typically for small electronics. 2016 Tahoe for example is a 150 Watt max, while a typical fridge uses 300-800. So please don't depend on it for that.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 10 months ago

It would but you would burn a ridiculous amount of fuel for the amount of energy you could use

[–] czardestructo 4 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Yes I've been doing this with my prius for over a decade. The 12V 'alternator' on the prius is enough to sustain about 1000w which is plenty for a fridge and some lights. The engine only turns on once an hour to top off the main battery.