A “bombogenesis,” commonly known as a “bomb cyclone,” pounded the Pacific Northwest earlier this week with destructive winds and torrential rain. At higher altitudes, heavy snow and strong winds unleashed blizzards. This once-in-a-decade storm caused widespread power outages across the Seattle metropolitan area, leaving electric vehicle owners in a panic.
At the peak of widespread outages, more than 600,000 customers across Washington State lost power due to the powerful storm; most outages were in King County and Snohomish County.
The ongoing power outage map for the Eastside of Seattle is just brutal. 🙏 https://t.co/AmO7NcE6Pn pic.twitter.com/9V9eX9X0p9
— Steven Sinofsky (@stevesi) November 22, 2024
GeekWire reports that in the last several days, EV drivers who lost power at their homes flooded public EV charging networks across the metro area.
“We’ve seen some chargers that are almost never used that are fully being used,” FlexCharging CEO Brian Grunkemeyer told the tech media outlet. The startup provides charging software services for EV charging operators, including Electrify America.
Grunkemeyer provided a screenshot showing that Electrify America stations on Wednesday were all full, and long lines continued into Thursday.
A video shared on X showed the panic…
Byproduct of the wind storm’s power outages: Nick Abrams said “dozens of Teslas” were lined up trying to get a charge in the Northgate parking lot tonight. 🔌 #WAwx pic.twitter.com/XACClNY0vG
— Shannon O’Donnell (@ShannonODKOMO) November 21, 2024
The lesson for EV drivers in an apocalyptic situation is very clear: have a full-house natural gas or diesel-powered generator system or a lightweight 8kW portable generator with 220V capability.
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