Mike, it would help to understand the business case and value proposition for a rescue service compared to a tow to a charging station and an estimate of the size of the problem. Don’t most EVs have software that plans their routes and alerts them in advance of when they need to charge? I’ve also heard that they slow down when they are below a certain threshold of battery charge so they can go the last few miles with high efficiency. And friends have told me that the batteries in older EVs lose range and that the predicted range becomes less accurate. It would seen that you could piece together a business case from available data and user experiences. You could also contact towing services like AAA to find out what services they offer and how much it costs. You’d need to answer the question: is the business case and value proposition for a recharge rescue service compelling compared to existing towing services?
Nice idea, but overbuilt for anything but industrial rescue. I would start with just using the 7kw power to give enough range (ca 25mi/hour) to get to a super charger, rather than trying to fully charge level-3 roadside. Its slower, but easy for rescuers to add...towing is slow too!
Or access the Lightening's onboard battery for a DC fast charge ability... Ford may poo themself but it seems the best solution if a safe charger can be bridged. The truck already recharges itself between stops. Or divert that charge ability to rescue directly instead of using the inverter to charge a bed-battery-bank to charge client, as you specced.
Or yeah, carry a compact 10-20KW genny instead of a trailered level-3... 50mi/hr seems reasonable to me.
I think modest steps get there faster for smaller rescue companies than your admittedly ideal solution.
I've never ever run out of gasoline. We had (past tense) 2 Chevy Bolt EVs (in succession). They have a 60 KWH battery. Its ideal range is about 240 miles, but its actual range is about 180. A few years ago, it was our tow car on motorhome trips and since it was a front wheel drive, could be towed on a dolly.
We stayed in a hotel in Elkhart, IN while our RV was being serviced in the summer a few years ago. We got down to 60 miles left. The Chevy dealer had a Level 3 charger, but it was out of order. The Caddy dealer in the next town had a Level 3, also out of order. We had passed a large charging station on the westbound side of the Indiana Turnpike, but it was over 50 miles away. We drove there as slowly as traffic would permit. On arrival, the car's computer was flashing red, "Charge Immediately" with no indication of how many miles were left. All of the chargers there were out of order. There was a charging station on the eastbound side of the toll road, but we didn't have enough electricity to legally get there. We used a short cut with gate codes provided by the convenience store located in both sides of the turnpike. Those chargers worked. We had 5% electricity left when we plugged in. After 2 hours of charging, we got to 90% state-of-charge and drove back the 50+ miles to Elkhart where we paid the maximum toll fee since we had no eastbound toll ticket.
EVs are nice commuter cars if you can charge at home. That means you need a 2nd car for road trips because the charging infrastructure is so unreliable. If you don't already have one, the added cost of the 2nd car cancels any savings you might imagine that you're getting from owning an EV. Almost all EVs need to be towed on a flatbed. The availability of emergency charging such as you described would be of slight reassurance when one considers the cost of such a rescue and still needing a working fast charger after such a rescue. Our flat-tow car is now a Hyundai Accent. Our primary car is a Camry hybrid (it doesn't like to be dolly-towed). We don't plan on having an EV again.
I drove an EV for two years. I am not sure most EV drivers ever run out of energy on the road. I never did. Only once did I almost not make it back to my destination. However, that was because the EV suffered a critical failure of the electrical system. While repaired, it never did work right afterward and was gotten rid of. To me, if needing a gas or diesel rig to keep EV’s on the road, it just goes to show which technology is more reliable. We are in our third phase of EV battery technology and I don't think we are quite where it needs to be. Still to complex and heavy for its energy density.
This is for emergency road situations such as when I-95 was ice/snow bound for nearly / days, and dozens of cars ran out of gasoline trying to keep warm. Emergency crews were delivering 5-gallon cans of gas to stranded motorists.
There were also a number of EVs that ran out of charge while stuck on the snowbound highway. The only way to rescue them was to put the on a rollback truck and take them to a charging station.
Why not just do what tow truck do now and tow the thing to an existing charger
Mike, it would help to understand the business case and value proposition for a rescue service compared to a tow to a charging station and an estimate of the size of the problem. Don’t most EVs have software that plans their routes and alerts them in advance of when they need to charge? I’ve also heard that they slow down when they are below a certain threshold of battery charge so they can go the last few miles with high efficiency. And friends have told me that the batteries in older EVs lose range and that the predicted range becomes less accurate. It would seen that you could piece together a business case from available data and user experiences. You could also contact towing services like AAA to find out what services they offer and how much it costs. You’d need to answer the question: is the business case and value proposition for a recharge rescue service compelling compared to existing towing services?
Nice idea, but overbuilt for anything but industrial rescue. I would start with just using the 7kw power to give enough range (ca 25mi/hour) to get to a super charger, rather than trying to fully charge level-3 roadside. Its slower, but easy for rescuers to add...towing is slow too!
Or access the Lightening's onboard battery for a DC fast charge ability... Ford may poo themself but it seems the best solution if a safe charger can be bridged. The truck already recharges itself between stops. Or divert that charge ability to rescue directly instead of using the inverter to charge a bed-battery-bank to charge client, as you specced.
Or yeah, carry a compact 10-20KW genny instead of a trailered level-3... 50mi/hr seems reasonable to me.
I think modest steps get there faster for smaller rescue companies than your admittedly ideal solution.
I've never ever run out of gasoline. We had (past tense) 2 Chevy Bolt EVs (in succession). They have a 60 KWH battery. Its ideal range is about 240 miles, but its actual range is about 180. A few years ago, it was our tow car on motorhome trips and since it was a front wheel drive, could be towed on a dolly.
We stayed in a hotel in Elkhart, IN while our RV was being serviced in the summer a few years ago. We got down to 60 miles left. The Chevy dealer had a Level 3 charger, but it was out of order. The Caddy dealer in the next town had a Level 3, also out of order. We had passed a large charging station on the westbound side of the Indiana Turnpike, but it was over 50 miles away. We drove there as slowly as traffic would permit. On arrival, the car's computer was flashing red, "Charge Immediately" with no indication of how many miles were left. All of the chargers there were out of order. There was a charging station on the eastbound side of the toll road, but we didn't have enough electricity to legally get there. We used a short cut with gate codes provided by the convenience store located in both sides of the turnpike. Those chargers worked. We had 5% electricity left when we plugged in. After 2 hours of charging, we got to 90% state-of-charge and drove back the 50+ miles to Elkhart where we paid the maximum toll fee since we had no eastbound toll ticket.
EVs are nice commuter cars if you can charge at home. That means you need a 2nd car for road trips because the charging infrastructure is so unreliable. If you don't already have one, the added cost of the 2nd car cancels any savings you might imagine that you're getting from owning an EV. Almost all EVs need to be towed on a flatbed. The availability of emergency charging such as you described would be of slight reassurance when one considers the cost of such a rescue and still needing a working fast charger after such a rescue. Our flat-tow car is now a Hyundai Accent. Our primary car is a Camry hybrid (it doesn't like to be dolly-towed). We don't plan on having an EV again.
I drove an EV for two years. I am not sure most EV drivers ever run out of energy on the road. I never did. Only once did I almost not make it back to my destination. However, that was because the EV suffered a critical failure of the electrical system. While repaired, it never did work right afterward and was gotten rid of. To me, if needing a gas or diesel rig to keep EV’s on the road, it just goes to show which technology is more reliable. We are in our third phase of EV battery technology and I don't think we are quite where it needs to be. Still to complex and heavy for its energy density.
This is for emergency road situations such as when I-95 was ice/snow bound for nearly / days, and dozens of cars ran out of gasoline trying to keep warm. Emergency crews were delivering 5-gallon cans of gas to stranded motorists.
There were also a number of EVs that ran out of charge while stuck on the snowbound highway. The only way to rescue them was to put the on a rollback truck and take them to a charging station.
I agree. 10 years of EVs and I have never been stranded on the road. And I live in rural California.
Hello Mike,
Great idea, but two years to soon. EVs will be common as muck in their time.