‘Amazing’: Queensland mum uses electric car to ‘save’ son’s life with dialysis during power outage
‘Amazing’: Queensland mum uses electric car to ‘save’ son’s life with dialysis during power outage
Kristy Holmes always knew she could use her electric car for ‘good things’, but when storms caused a blackout, it proved life-saving
An electric vehicle owner has used her car’s emergency power system to run her 11-year-old son’s lifesaving dialysis machine and another has ridden to the rescue of his neighbours after devastating storms cut power in south-east Queensland.
When the power went down following storms and flash flooding on Christmas Day, many residents immediately felt the consequences: electric gates did not work, septic tanks began to fill, air conditioners could not run and fridges began to warm as a heatwave followed.
But some electric vehicle drivers whose cars are equipped with “vehicle to load” systems – a back-up power system that allows the car to act as an emergency generator or supply for devices such as lights, laptops, TVs and refrigerators – stepped in to help out and, in some cases, save lives.
You're viewing a single thread.
Not to spoil the party, but this would have worked with a gas car and an inverter right? Although for sure it's much more convenient to have the feature built-in and not need to get any extra kit
Yeah, I did this for the last hurricane that knocked out our power. $10k worth of meds in our fridge for two of our kids had to stay cold & I didn't have a generator yet. Now I have a generator & a solar battery kit.
I have a gas powered car, it has a mains outlet in the back of the center console. As far as I know this isn't anything special or new. My car is a 2016 Chevy nothing special.
The special part is there’s no risk of carbon monoxide poisoning and it’s about 1/3 of the energy costs.
Vehicle to grid chargers mean you can use your electric car as a house backup battery when the power goes out. Not all EVs support this yet, but it should become commonplace in the next two years.
Having a static battery in the house that gets additional cycles, isn't a big issue. Who cares if the capacity decreases by an additional 10 percent because of added cycles. Just get a battery that's 10 percent larger from the start or add additional cells when you feel like it. In a mobile form factor, 10 percent can be a big difference. You can't just scale up the battery when you feel like it and in the worst case scenario you would have to replace it. That's why I would always be very conservative with using a car battery that way.
Those in car outlets are typically for small electronics. 2016 Tahoe for example is a 150 Watt max, while a typical fridge uses 300-800. So please don't depend on it for that.
It would but you would burn a ridiculous amount of fuel for the amount of energy you could use
Yes I've been doing this with my prius for over a decade. The 12V 'alternator' on the prius is enough to sustain about 1000w which is plenty for a fridge and some lights. The engine only turns on once an hour to top off the main battery.