Photo: via Aldin/Twitter
We have already told our readers why Ukraine is a big importer of used electric cars. Ukraine had the first Chevy Bolt EV fire that we are aware of and also received a Tesla lemon we talked about here. Now a tweet about EVs in Ukraine is causing controversy.
The user Aldin shared a video of an abandoned Tesla Model 3 in Mariupol, a city that Russian forces have almost completely destroyed and left without electricity. It was enough for this Twitter user to say that “you can always find some petrol, but when electricity is out, then it’s out…”
Although the car is really stopped in the middle of the destroyed city, it was a poor conclusion based on false premises. The first is that the EV was abandoned because it ran out of electricity when it had a flat rear tire. The wheels suggest it is a Model 3 Performance, with notoriously difficult-to-replace tires even when no dictator is around trying to invade your country.
The second is that you can always find gasoline. Fuel pumps work with electricity, which means that a power shortage will also make them stop. Supposing you have a jerry can, it will not last for long with an engine that throws away 60% of its energy just with fumes and heat. If fuel distribution stops, all you have is what is available. With everybody needing gas or diesel, it will end sooner than later.
The last mistake Aldin commits is to suppose that “when electricity is out, then it’s out…” There are multiple ways to generate electricity. On the other hand, we have never heard of anyone being able to make gasoline at home. People always had to convert engines to other fuels to keep their cars going in times of oil scarcity: gasogene or ethanol, for example.
Check the people that have solar panels at home. Although some people do not have enough of them to produce as much electricity as an EV would need to take long trips, they can help to fully charge it in a few days. Those savvier with electric devices can also create devices to generate electricity. An electric motor or an alternator can play that role powered by wind, water, or even a bicycle.
Apart from that, electric vehicles are very efficient machines, which means they need way less energy to move around than combustion-engined cars. An example of that also comes from Ukraine, where Lieutenant Tetiana Chornovol uses her red Chevrolet Volt as an “ecologically clean killing machine.”
As The New York Times tells us, she “commands two teams of a half-dozen or so people each, firing Ukrainian-made, tripod-mounted missiles, which they transport to ambush positions in their personal cars.” The red Volt is one of them. The world’s first mass-produced plug-in hybrid helps her move silently to places where she can hit Russian invaders with Stugna-P missiles.
Although the Volt has a combustion engine under the hood, it is mainly used to recharge the battery pack. That makes it a very efficient and versatile machine: it could feed either on gasoline or pure electricity, whatever was available in times of war. We suspect Lt. Chornovol’s Volt gets juice directly from plugs. May it keep helping her defend her home.
Although the car is really stopped in the middle of the destroyed city, it was a poor conclusion based on false premises. The first is that the EV was abandoned because it ran out of electricity when it had a flat rear tire. The wheels suggest it is a Model 3 Performance, with notoriously difficult-to-replace tires even when no dictator is around trying to invade your country.
The second is that you can always find gasoline. Fuel pumps work with electricity, which means that a power shortage will also make them stop. Supposing you have a jerry can, it will not last for long with an engine that throws away 60% of its energy just with fumes and heat. If fuel distribution stops, all you have is what is available. With everybody needing gas or diesel, it will end sooner than later.
The last mistake Aldin commits is to suppose that “when electricity is out, then it’s out…” There are multiple ways to generate electricity. On the other hand, we have never heard of anyone being able to make gasoline at home. People always had to convert engines to other fuels to keep their cars going in times of oil scarcity: gasogene or ethanol, for example.
Check the people that have solar panels at home. Although some people do not have enough of them to produce as much electricity as an EV would need to take long trips, they can help to fully charge it in a few days. Those savvier with electric devices can also create devices to generate electricity. An electric motor or an alternator can play that role powered by wind, water, or even a bicycle.
Apart from that, electric vehicles are very efficient machines, which means they need way less energy to move around than combustion-engined cars. An example of that also comes from Ukraine, where Lieutenant Tetiana Chornovol uses her red Chevrolet Volt as an “ecologically clean killing machine.”
As The New York Times tells us, she “commands two teams of a half-dozen or so people each, firing Ukrainian-made, tripod-mounted missiles, which they transport to ambush positions in their personal cars.” The red Volt is one of them. The world’s first mass-produced plug-in hybrid helps her move silently to places where she can hit Russian invaders with Stugna-P missiles.
Although the Volt has a combustion engine under the hood, it is mainly used to recharge the battery pack. That makes it a very efficient and versatile machine: it could feed either on gasoline or pure electricity, whatever was available in times of war. We suspect Lt. Chornovol’s Volt gets juice directly from plugs. May it keep helping her defend her home.
Abandoned Tesla in Mariupol, you can always find some petrol, but when electricity is out, then its out.. pic.twitter.com/JTYeKnj3Dx
— Aldin ???????? (@aldin_ww) March 19, 2022
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