Photo: insider.com
Whereas they are impervious to fuel shortages or price hikes, electric cars are vulnerable to outages in the power grid. Although widespread outages, planned or otherwise, are rare, they do happen. Like this week in the most EV-friendly state in the world, California.
On Wednesday, the state’s main supplier of electricity, Pacific Gas & Electric, intentionally cut power to 500,000 customers in an attempt to prevent its equipment from sparking wildfires due to the dry weather and windy conditions. Another 250,000 may be affected in the coming hours, depending on weather conditions.
Obviously, such a widespread power outage spells trouble for EVs. Tesla, as one of the largest players on the market, tried to stay ahead of things and according to reports from owners, an in-car alert was issued telling people to juice up before power is gone.
In an attempt to prevent its customers from running out of power, Powerpacks are now getting ready to be installed at Superchargers stations in the affected area. The news was made public by Elon Musk on Wednesday.
“All Tesla Supercharger stations in regions affected by California power outages will have Tesla Powerpacks within next few weeks. Just waiting on permits,” the executive said in a Twitter post.
In addition, now that the company knows such things are possible, Tesla is looking into how it can install solar panels at its own stations, to provide round-the-clock charging capability.
“Also adding Tesla Solar to our Supercharger stations as fast as possible. Goal is 24/7 clean power with no blackouts,” Musk said.
The power outage affects Northern and Central California, including most of the Bay Area counties. Pacific Gas & Electric is unable to say at this point how long the outages will last, but the company is telling people to make plans for living without electricity for up to five days.
Obviously, such a widespread power outage spells trouble for EVs. Tesla, as one of the largest players on the market, tried to stay ahead of things and according to reports from owners, an in-car alert was issued telling people to juice up before power is gone.
In an attempt to prevent its customers from running out of power, Powerpacks are now getting ready to be installed at Superchargers stations in the affected area. The news was made public by Elon Musk on Wednesday.
“All Tesla Supercharger stations in regions affected by California power outages will have Tesla Powerpacks within next few weeks. Just waiting on permits,” the executive said in a Twitter post.
In addition, now that the company knows such things are possible, Tesla is looking into how it can install solar panels at its own stations, to provide round-the-clock charging capability.
“Also adding Tesla Solar to our Supercharger stations as fast as possible. Goal is 24/7 clean power with no blackouts,” Musk said.
The power outage affects Northern and Central California, including most of the Bay Area counties. Pacific Gas & Electric is unable to say at this point how long the outages will last, but the company is telling people to make plans for living without electricity for up to five days.
All Tesla Supercharger stations in regions affected by California power outages will have Tesla Powerpacks within next few weeks. Just waiting on permits.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 10, 2019
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