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martyb [soylentnews.org] writes:

CNET spoke with several electric car makers about what they suggest for electric car owners during the "public safety power shutoff" put in place by Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) .

California PG&E Blackouts: What Electric-Car Makers Have to say about the Situation [cnet.com]:

For California residents, wildfires are becoming a new normal. One of the state's largest utility companies, PG&E, has initiated wide-ranging blackouts [soylentnews.org] to protect against the possibility of a fire that could quickly turn into a statewide emergency. The practice, called a "public safety power shutoff," began Wednesday, as high winds and hot temperatures move over the area, with some 500,000 electricity customers affected across the Bay Area. Up to 800,000 people may feel the effects throughout the blackouts.

When power will come back on is unclear. For electric vehicle owners, that poses a bit of a problem, since their cars' main source of power comes from electric charging stations at home or at public stations. Without a source of power, EVs won't get terribly far.

Ahead of the blackout on Wednesday, Tesla [cnet.com] pushed a notification to owners' cars urging them to fully charge their car ahead of the blackout in their area. In part, the notification said the blackout "may affect power to charging options." The automaker continued, "As always, your touchscreen will display live statuses of Superchargers in your area."

Tesla did not respond to Roadshow's request for comment when we asked for additional information

[...]Audi [cnet.com] told Roadshow that E-Tron [cnet.com] owners typically drive, on average, 48 miles per day, which leaves plenty of battery reserve in the case of a blackout. With the figure, E-Tron drivers, on average, need to fully charge their cars every four days.

Still, the company checked with Electrify America (a Volkswagen Group subsidiary) and the charging station operator said there are no stations affected by the PG&E blackouts at this time. The Audi E-Tron's in-car navigation will show which Electrify America stations are currently occupied or not available, though the company said it's working to learn what a station would display if it did not have power.

If that's not enough, Audi also offers seven days of Silvercar [soylentnews.org] service to all owners, including those who left the dealership with an E-Tron. "It would allow customers to drive an Audi from Silvercar at no additional cost [if] they needed to get through a difficult period caused by a blackout," a representative told Roadshow via email.

None of the other EV manufacturers responded immediately to CNET's requests.

Fossil-fueled vehicles also get to experience "range anxiety" because gasoline and diesel pumps require electricity to run. Obviously what is needed is to install a diesel generator which is powered with fuel from the gas (petrol) station!

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