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My concern would be draining the fuel reserves in a vehicle to power my home reduces my mobility. It seems like mixing objectives and in an emergency, I want to

My concern would be draining the fuel reserves in a vehicle to power my home reduces my mobility. It seems like mixing objectives and in an emergency, I want to keep my super spare backup if I needed to flee.

Dylan16807 2y ago
So you're worried about a weather emergency that takes out your power, followed a few days later by a second emergency that requires you to evacuate a long distance? I don't think I'd do very much to prepare for that scenario.
- vel0city 2y ago
  It can be the same emergency. It doesn't have to be a second one. You might plan on riding out a storm, thinking utilities might be out a day or two max. Day 5, still no utilities, no known date for resumption of services, and supplies are running extremely low. How do you get out?
  - ssl-3 2y ago
    In the best case: Just deal with it proactively. Watch supplies, try to stay informed. You mitigate what you can to stretch things out (making French toast in a skillet outside on the BBQ grill in the aftermath of a winter storm may be the best way to use available energy and feed people a tasty meal, even if it does seem absurd). Plan to leave before things become unmanageable, and adjust that plan as things change, and be willing to resolutely execute that plan before things go from bad to worse. If you forecast that your supplies will be very slim on day 5, and you haven't left for greener pastures by day 3 or 4, then the the worst case is already unfolding. GTFO before the worst-case ever happens. But in that worst case: One can call on someone else for help. This is one of those situations where it's time to cash in some favors, and/or where it pays off to always be friendly and helpful with to the neighbors even if they really seem like a bunch of assholes. (The time to start being friendly with the neighbors is right now, by the way.) (My own backup plan only keeps me rolling both semi-comfortably and independently for about 24 or 48 hours without power in the winter, so I'm leaving after the first night or ASAP. I don't have the complications and niceties offered by something like an F-150 Lightning, but finite resources remain finite no matter their form.)
    - vel0city 2y ago
      You're either not going to have much meaningful backup power or you're not going to have much usable range if your plan is based on consuming the energy on your car while holed up and also using that energy to potentially drive a couple hundred miles. That's my real point here.
      - Dylan16807 2y ago
        Do you have a destination in mind within a couple hundred miles? I hope you're not setting up to get stranded on the highway. I think I'd be sorting weather events into two buckets: "I can get somewhere that wasn't hit hard with 50-100 miles of range" or "I need to travel a distance measured in states and refueling will be needed". So the difference between "full battery" and "half battery" is pretty tiny, and I can do plenty of house-powering. When I think of evacuating a long distance, I think of something like a hurricane where you should be getting out of the way before it hits. If you're in the aftermath of a storm, you don't need to go more than 100 but less than 300 miles.
        vel0city 2y ago
        Waco is a bit over 100 miles from me and would be a potential destination for me in an emergency. It'll probably be massively slammed though if all of DFW needs to evacuate for some reason. Austin is then over 200mi. Oklahoma City is a bit over 200 miles if I needed to go to the city the next state over. Shreveport is just under 200mi. If something is making me leave DFW then 50mi isn't going to get me anywhere. That's not even going across the metro area.
        Dylan16807 2y ago
        What event do you have in mind that very badly affects your location but not those cities, and you don't realize driving there is a good idea until a day or two after the event?
        2y ago
- edmundsauto 2y ago
  I think it's more about the long tail of situations that I'm not really able to imagine, or feasible emergencies but ones where my assumptions aren't valid. So not about a specific situation, more on principle that I want to keep my "get the heck out of dodge" energy store separate from my "hunker down" energy store. I admit it's less efficient to have 2 energy stores, but given we're already discussing potentially life threatening situations, I'm not really looking to optimize for anything except having as many resources as feasible on hand.
  - Dylan16807 2y ago
    > I'm not really looking to optimize for anything except having as many resources as feasible on hand. Money is limited, so sharing resources between situations lets you be prepared for more situations.
    - edmundsauto 2y ago
      Agreed, there are tradeoffs. But from a principled perspective I recognize the risk in having to choose between escape and home power. Adverse events often stack in unexpected ways at the worst time.
      - bruckie 2y ago
        I get your point, but let's assume that you had separate resources for escape and home power, and then you needed home power for an extended period. Wouldn't you like to have the option to be able to use your escape resources to power your home?
        edmundsauto 2y ago
        I think so, but the tail risk impact is still worrisome. Guess it also depends where you live - I’m in a fair weather state, so powering my home is not a survival issue for the most part. If I lived in eg Texas, I’d maybe have a BEV that could power my home and a separate vehicle for long range travel. Bit of a luxury.

Dylan16807 2y ago

So you're worried about a weather emergency that takes out your power, followed a few days later by a second emergency that requires you to evacuate a long distance? I don't think I'd do very much to prepare for that scenario.

vel0city 2y ago
It can be the same emergency. It doesn't have to be a second one. You might plan on riding out a storm, thinking utilities might be out a day or two max. Day 5, still no utilities, no known date for resumption of services, and supplies are running extremely low. How do you get out?
- ssl-3 2y ago
  In the best case: Just deal with it proactively. Watch supplies, try to stay informed. You mitigate what you can to stretch things out (making French toast in a skillet outside on the BBQ grill in the aftermath of a winter storm may be the best way to use available energy and feed people a tasty meal, even if it does seem absurd). Plan to leave before things become unmanageable, and adjust that plan as things change, and be willing to resolutely execute that plan before things go from bad to worse. If you forecast that your supplies will be very slim on day 5, and you haven't left for greener pastures by day 3 or 4, then the the worst case is already unfolding. GTFO before the worst-case ever happens. But in that worst case: One can call on someone else for help. This is one of those situations where it's time to cash in some favors, and/or where it pays off to always be friendly and helpful with to the neighbors even if they really seem like a bunch of assholes. (The time to start being friendly with the neighbors is right now, by the way.) (My own backup plan only keeps me rolling both semi-comfortably and independently for about 24 or 48 hours without power in the winter, so I'm leaving after the first night or ASAP. I don't have the complications and niceties offered by something like an F-150 Lightning, but finite resources remain finite no matter their form.)
  - vel0city 2y ago
    You're either not going to have much meaningful backup power or you're not going to have much usable range if your plan is based on consuming the energy on your car while holed up and also using that energy to potentially drive a couple hundred miles. That's my real point here.
    - Dylan16807 2y ago
      Do you have a destination in mind within a couple hundred miles? I hope you're not setting up to get stranded on the highway. I think I'd be sorting weather events into two buckets: "I can get somewhere that wasn't hit hard with 50-100 miles of range" or "I need to travel a distance measured in states and refueling will be needed". So the difference between "full battery" and "half battery" is pretty tiny, and I can do plenty of house-powering. When I think of evacuating a long distance, I think of something like a hurricane where you should be getting out of the way before it hits. If you're in the aftermath of a storm, you don't need to go more than 100 but less than 300 miles.
      - vel0city 2y ago
        Waco is a bit over 100 miles from me and would be a potential destination for me in an emergency. It'll probably be massively slammed though if all of DFW needs to evacuate for some reason. Austin is then over 200mi. Oklahoma City is a bit over 200 miles if I needed to go to the city the next state over. Shreveport is just under 200mi. If something is making me leave DFW then 50mi isn't going to get me anywhere. That's not even going across the metro area.
        Dylan16807 2y ago
        What event do you have in mind that very badly affects your location but not those cities, and you don't realize driving there is a good idea until a day or two after the event?
        2y ago
edmundsauto 2y ago
I think it's more about the long tail of situations that I'm not really able to imagine, or feasible emergencies but ones where my assumptions aren't valid. So not about a specific situation, more on principle that I want to keep my "get the heck out of dodge" energy store separate from my "hunker down" energy store. I admit it's less efficient to have 2 energy stores, but given we're already discussing potentially life threatening situations, I'm not really looking to optimize for anything except having as many resources as feasible on hand.
- Dylan16807 2y ago
  > I'm not really looking to optimize for anything except having as many resources as feasible on hand. Money is limited, so sharing resources between situations lets you be prepared for more situations.
  - edmundsauto 2y ago
    Agreed, there are tradeoffs. But from a principled perspective I recognize the risk in having to choose between escape and home power. Adverse events often stack in unexpected ways at the worst time.
    - bruckie 2y ago
      I get your point, but let's assume that you had separate resources for escape and home power, and then you needed home power for an extended period. Wouldn't you like to have the option to be able to use your escape resources to power your home?
      - edmundsauto 2y ago
        I think so, but the tail risk impact is still worrisome. Guess it also depends where you live - I’m in a fair weather state, so powering my home is not a survival issue for the most part. If I lived in eg Texas, I’d maybe have a BEV that could power my home and a separate vehicle for long range travel. Bit of a luxury.