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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

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?
        vel0city 2y ago
        The 2021 Texas ice storm and related power outages would have been one where driving to Oklahoma City or Shreveport would have been a place to go to. That also would have significantly reduced that theoretical 230ish mile range of a Lightning or similar EV. Lake Dallas dam breaking after major flooding in the Trinity River would cause quite a bit of destruction in DFW and potentially make things pretty unlivable around here and force a lot of people out of here and into the surrounding areas. Also an event that wouldn't necessarily be seen days ahead of time. I grew up in South Houston, so I had a number of times of hurricanes coming through and not necessarily destroying my house but making the surrounding areas pretty unlivable for days to weeks. Maybe it gets cleaned up enough in a couple of days, maybe it doesn't.

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?
      - vel0city 2y ago
        The 2021 Texas ice storm and related power outages would have been one where driving to Oklahoma City or Shreveport would have been a place to go to. That also would have significantly reduced that theoretical 230ish mile range of a Lightning or similar EV. Lake Dallas dam breaking after major flooding in the Trinity River would cause quite a bit of destruction in DFW and potentially make things pretty unlivable around here and force a lot of people out of here and into the surrounding areas. Also an event that wouldn't necessarily be seen days ahead of time. I grew up in South Houston, so I had a number of times of hurricanes coming through and not necessarily destroying my house but making the surrounding areas pretty unlivable for days to weeks. Maybe it gets cleaned up enough in a couple of days, maybe it doesn't.