Hurricane evacuation - Rivian versus ICE truck

[MMRivian]

I currently live in south Florida and own two EVs, BMW iX and Tesla model Y. Also have solar with good battery/natural gas-generator backup so can be my own "gas station" for EVs indefinitely during a grid outage. However, with a possible direct hurricane hit requiring an evacuation, neither the iX nor Y have sufficient ground clearance, flooded road capability, comfort, nor range for extended bumper to bumper and overnight evac. Considering a Rivian or a moderately lifted ICE truck for this purpose. My question for the forum is what range can I expect in slow stop and go traffic conditions at high ambient temps (85-90F). I have read the questions regarding the range upgrade with the Max pack and wondering what incremental range might be expected with stop and go driving. Also, do we think that the Tesla supercharger option is now reliable? And the overall thoughts on charging station versus gas/diesel station availability (much better to "fuel" at home before a storm but talking about an evac situation). I have also investigated carrying an inverter generator and some gas and could reasonably get 6 kw which is maybe 45 miles of range for 3 hours sleeping or on the side of the road while charging.

I hope I haven't repeated a prior discussion but couldn't find these questions in a search.

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[edman007]

My question for the forum is what range can I expect in slow stop and go traffic conditions at high ambient temps (85-90F).

Way over EPA. I think 2.8-3mi/kWh seems about normal for me in 80 degree weather which would be 375-400mi on my large pack quad. If you had a dual motor max I'd expect 500 honestly. I don't think you'll find enough traffic to sit in stop and go traffic for 20 hours, even in a hurricane evacuation.

I think in an evacuation scenario, superchargers are fine, maybe a bit backed up, but expect delays in that situation and you're fine. The bigger issue is after the storm and finding that the whole city is out of power for a week. It's hard to move back home when you can't charge in your city.

 

[MMRivian]

Way over EPA. I think 2.8-3mi/kWh seems about normal for me in 80 degree weather which would be 375-400mi on my large pack quad. If you had a dual motor max I'd expect 500 honestly. I don't think you'll find enough traffic to sit in stop and go traffic for 20 hours, even in a hurricane evacuation.

I think in an evacuation scenario, superchargers are fine, maybe a bit backed up, but expect delays in that situation and you're fine. The bigger issue is after the storm and finding that the whole city is out of power for a week. It's hard to move back home when you can't charge in your city.

Thanks for the input. Wow. That range would be amazing if that's what I could get at low speeds. As to returning home, I am in the "power business" and built a new house with solar panels and Tesla power walls that can provide plenty of extra power for vehicle charging as well as a natural gas whole house generator if the solar backup fails. So absent structural destruction and/or looting, there should be power to live on with the grid out. It's kind of Rivian wins with a grid outage and no evacuation due to home charging. Don't know as to the evac vehicle which is dependent on range and fueling availability on the road.

 

[BUGWILLY]

I am in Naples and have the quad motor R1S. We have a jeep that would most likely use for evacuating. My fear is the lines at charging locations would be hours of waiting

 

[ATL_R1S]

In my uneducated opinion... get out ASAP and preferably early prior to an evac order being issued. Bound to be lines at both gas and charging stations in a situation like that.

 

[atebit]

Florida’s pretty flat too, so that would be in your favor.

One thing to keep in mind about solar (which I’m sure you already know/have experienced) is that it doesn’t take much cloud cover to seriously impact solar generation. Does Florida store most of their natural gas underground or above as LNG? Just wondering about a protracted cloudy storm aftermath if the natural gas storage or distribution was also impacted. In the case of a god-level event, most things are out of your control anyway.

 

[lslick23]

Unless you live on the beach or the keys evacuating isn’t a big thing in South Florida, you just ride it out. If your house has backup power solar & battery and/or generator your good to go.

 

[voxel]

I'm in Central FL and the last few hurricanes have knocked out gas stations more than power.

I keep one gas car and one electric car because there have been years where I was without power for 7 days and years where no gas stations were open for 3 days around me (5+ miles radius) since gas is delivered here by truck

 

[Kidentist]

Yeah.......get out and get out fast! I would use an ICE car.

 

[MMRivian]

In my uneducated opinion... get out ASAP and preferably early prior to an evac order being issued. Bound to be lines at both gas and charging stations in a situation like that.

Yup, getting out early means either EV or ICE will work. The problem with early is that there will be many false positives (i.e. evac when no real need to do so). So I am really concerned about leaving "late" and how far can I get.

 

[MMRivian]

Unless you live on the beach or the keys evacuating isn’t a big thing in South Florida, you just ride it out. If your house has backup power solar & battery and/or generator your good to go.

Yes, used to live in a condo so had to leave due to power loss. I am now 1/3 mile west of the intracoastal, so not on the beach, not in a flood zone but certainly in an evacuation zone with a nearby storm.

 

[R1TS]

I had to evacuate an area from a hillside fire in SoCal last year.

Driving an EV left me really, really nervous.

The nearest charging stations were backed up “forever.” Just imagine all those EV owners you see on the road daily (and there were A LOT) trying to charge for 30+ minutes. For example, even only 50 EVs in line at a 10-stall station, for just 30 minutes each, is already around 3 hours.

Could these people have charged for less duration until they have enough for a station further away? Probably, but good luck convincing all those nervous people to charge for just only 15-20 minutes in an evac situation.

Even as an all-EV household for a very long time, that evac situation (first time in my life) left me thinking having one ICE might be good for areas prone to an evac. At least until there’s A LOT more charging stations around.

 

[MMRivian]

Yeah.......get out and get out fast! I would use an ICE car.

I see your point of view. Looking also at a lifted GMC Diesel 1500 but my heart is with the Rivian (-:

 

[MMRivian]

I had to evacuate an area from a hillside fire in SoCal last year.

Driving an EV left me really, really nervous.

The nearest charging stations were backed up “forever.” Just imagine all those EV owners you see on the road daily (and there were A LOT) trying to charge for 30+ minutes. For example, even only 50 EVs in line at a 10-stall station, for just 30 minutes each, is already around 3 hours.

Could these people have charged for less duration until they have enough for a station further away? Probably, but good luck convincing all those nervous people to charge for just only 15-20 minutes in an evac situation.

Even as an all-EV household for a very long time, that evac situation (first time in my life) left me thinking having one ICE might be good for areas prone to an evac. At least until there’s A LOT more charging stations around.

Here, 3 days before the storm hits, you are hours on line to get gas if it is even available. On the road MAYBE gas is easier to get than electric but if electric is out gas station has to have backup generators to run their pumps and tanker resupply. I think I am speculating on all this and we will all have to see what happens in a real situation. Just want to know my range at low stop and go speeds with a large or max R1T. If edman007 is right, I have no worries with Rivian. Plenty of range, presumably to places with power on and open superchargers. Will always be able to start with 100% full "tank" via home charging up until the last minute. This is assuming the Tesla Rivian/supercharger connection has now got its kinks worked out. Is that true?

 

[moosetags]

We are lifelong Floridians. We have lived in Miami, Tallahassee, Jacksonville, and Santa Rosa Beach. We are quite familiar with storms and hurricanes. We have lived very close to the Gulf of Mexico in the western Florida Panhandle for the past 29 years. We have gone through 3 major hurricanes and a number of tropical storms during this period.

Our evacuation plan includes pulling our Airstream Travel Trailer out of harms way. We have both a Rivian R1T and a Chevrolet Silverado Duramax 3/4 ton. We would tow the Airstream with the Chevrolet for it 400 mile range and follow along with the Rivian. Both vehicles can handle moderately flooded roadways. We feel like we have a good plan.

Brian

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