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I wonder why no one just has a pickup with a generator in the back and drives around to help EV’s that ran out of batteries. Actually you could hang around ove

I wonder why no one just has a pickup with a generator in the back and drives around to help EV’s that ran out of batteries. Actually you could hang around overcrowded charging stations and make some good money. People in a hurry would pay a premium.

actionfromafar 2y ago
You would need a pretty big generator though. But an interesting idea.
Rinzler89 2y ago
I remember I saw something similar in Ukraine when the war stared, a Tesla drivers was photographed fleeing the country towing a generator. https://www.reddit.com/r/ukraine/comments/zxk623/in_kyiv_they_spotted_a_tesla_car_with_a_gasoline/ https://www.reddit.com/r/ukraine/comments/zxk623/in_kyiv_the...
JosephRedfern 2y ago
That's what breakdown companies (like the AA and RAC in the UK) do. It's slow enough that you'd only want to use it to get just enough juice to get to a proper charger, though - they use 3.5kW or 5kW chargers: https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/news/rac-news/rac-begins-rolling-out-faster-emergency-ev-chargers-to-patrol-vans/ https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/news/rac-news/rac-begins-rolling.... I'd imagine it's way less efficient and way more polluting than using the national grid, too.
craig1f 2y ago
I doesn’t happen nearly enough to be worth the effort. Electricity is cheap, and these mobile services are only worth it if they can charge a premium. And they can only charge a premium when a car is literally stranded. And that happens infrequently enough that you may as well just use a tow, which is readily available.
jillesvangurp 2y ago
Well a generator would just make the power needlessly expensive. Presumably the whole point of such an operation would be to use cheap power and sell it at a premium.
achow 2y ago
That's the general idea behind series plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs). ..Gasoline engine acts solely as a generator to recharge the battery, but can't mechanically power the wheels (known as "series hybrids"). Example: BMW i3.. https://www.caranddriver.com/features/a45483659/plug-in-hybrid-car-what-it-is-how-it-works-explainer/ https://www.caranddriver.com/features/a45483659/plug-in-hybr...
- speedgoose 2y ago
  The fossil i3 is notoriously much worse than the electric one. Heavier, less reliable, more expensive to run. It only makes sense if you don’t have a dense fast charger network where you live and you somehow decide to use this car to drive long distances.
saagarjha 2y ago
I might use this in an emergency but otherwise this seems spectacularly inefficient and unappealing.

actionfromafar 2y ago

You would need a pretty big generator though. But an interesting idea.

Rinzler89 2y ago

I remember I saw something similar in Ukraine when the war stared, a Tesla drivers was photographed fleeing the country towing a generator. https://www.reddit.com/r/ukraine/comments/zxk623/in_kyiv_they_spotted_a_tesla_car_with_a_gasoline/ https://www.reddit.com/r/ukraine/comments/zxk623/in_kyiv_the...

JosephRedfern 2y ago

That's what breakdown companies (like the AA and RAC in the UK) do. It's slow enough that you'd only want to use it to get just enough juice to get to a proper charger, though - they use 3.5kW or 5kW chargers: https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/news/rac-news/rac-begins-rolling-out-faster-emergency-ev-chargers-to-patrol-vans/ https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/news/rac-news/rac-begins-rolling.... I'd imagine it's way less efficient and way more polluting than using the national grid, too.

craig1f 2y ago

I doesn’t happen nearly enough to be worth the effort. Electricity is cheap, and these mobile services are only worth it if they can charge a premium. And they can only charge a premium when a car is literally stranded. And that happens infrequently enough that you may as well just use a tow, which is readily available.

jillesvangurp 2y ago

Well a generator would just make the power needlessly expensive. Presumably the whole point of such an operation would be to use cheap power and sell it at a premium.

achow 2y ago

That's the general idea behind series plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs). ..Gasoline engine acts solely as a generator to recharge the battery, but can't mechanically power the wheels (known as "series hybrids"). Example: BMW i3.. https://www.caranddriver.com/features/a45483659/plug-in-hybrid-car-what-it-is-how-it-works-explainer/ https://www.caranddriver.com/features/a45483659/plug-in-hybr...

speedgoose 2y ago
The fossil i3 is notoriously much worse than the electric one. Heavier, less reliable, more expensive to run. It only makes sense if you don’t have a dense fast charger network where you live and you somehow decide to use this car to drive long distances.

saagarjha 2y ago

I might use this in an emergency but otherwise this seems spectacularly inefficient and unappealing.