‘I wouldn’t want to evacuate in an EV’

Amid the tragedy of the ongoing California wildfires, the Los Angeles Times published a piece yesterday entitled “L.A. fires have added another concern for potential EV buyers: Power outages.”

Our own Bill Glahn reported on Governor Newsom’s pullback of arduous environmental regulations to speed rebuilding after the fires on January 13. As of today, the Eaton and Palisades fires have killed at least 27 people, destroyed 12,300 structures across 60 square miles, and count as the most destructive and second-most destructive wildfires in Southern California history.

It’s a tragedy likely made worse by ineffective forest management and insufficient water supplies in hydrants. But now that the fires are burning, Los Angelenos must keep themselves and their families safe with what they have on hand. Consider the harrowing scenario posed by the Los Angeles Times:

You’ve plugged your electric vehicle into your home charger and hit the sack. Overnight, high winds topple a power line. Your charger blacks out. Then, a report of a fire, followed by an evacuation order. Your battery’s only charged to 25%. And it’s your only car.

Such are the fears some California car buyers are expressing amid the fires that have devastated Los Angeles County and forced people to evacuate their homes at a moment’s notice.

A gasoline car “can evacuate in any direction on any road and still get fuel when needed,” said Matthew Butterick, a Los Angeles attorney who lives near Griffith Park. “The EV stations on evacuation routes would have massive lines and delays, gasoline stations less so. And the electric grid may not be available. Power companies turn off power to avoid sparking a fire and also to avoid legal liability. This is probably the future of all the hillside neighborhoods.”

His sentiments were echoed by Val Cipollone, who lives in the wooded hills above Berkeley. She owns a Nissan Leaf, a full electric vehicle with a roughly 220-mile range, which she plans to sell.

“Who knows how far you’d have to drive” after a disaster, she said. “I used to think I’d only need to drive to my place of work. But, who knows, I might have to go much farther…”

EVs “require a different relationship with your vehicle than people have had before. They require a lot more planning,” [Edmunds analyst Jessica] Caldwell said. This includes setting up a home charger, which sometimes requires an electrical upgrade; calculating routes for longer distance travel to find where charging is available; and searching for working public chargers when charging stations are jammed or chargers are inoperable…

“I just refueled my car,” [Butterick] told The Times when the Sunset fire broke out in the Hollywood Hills last week. “I wouldn’t want to evacuate in an EV.”

These worries are well-founded. The article continues to make the valid point that, if “eco-conscious” consumers want to be able to evacuate long distances with fewer concerns, a plug-in hybrid vehicle is the way to go. For short drives to work, a hybrid will use its battery. If driving longer distances, as one might have to in an evacuation scenario, a hybrid can burn gasoline instead. A hybrid could be the best of both worlds for many consumers.

Of course, there’s no substitute for preparedness, and drivers of ICE vehicles have plenty to worry about during evacuation scenarios, too: gas stations can lose electricity, run out of gasoline or diesel, or see long wait times and clogged freeways. However, gas stations are more plentiful than EV chargers and filling up a tank with gas takes a few minutes. Even the fastest EV chargers take between 15 minutes and an hour to reach 80 percent charge. I was in Tampa, Florida, for Hurricane Milton, and during my evacuation, I saw just how valuable it was to have a full gas tank when it was time to get out of dodge.

My thoughts are with everyone affected by the California wildfires, and I pray the devastation will be rebuilt quickly.