Keep my only remaining gas car as backup for earthquakes?

[Electrifying]

I am in San Francisco area. My wife drives a Model X and I am thinking of selling my BMW 335 and get a CPO Model S. But one concern is if all our cars are EVs, what if electricity went out during a major disaster like an earthquake or war. Will it be more disaster-proof if we have both types of cars and choose whichever energy source (electricity vs gas) that is the most available in those hard times? That's why I am thinking of keeping the BMW as a backup car.
What are your thoughts on this?

 

[jerjozwik]

do you also have a fallout shelter?

 

[iwannam3]

Fuel delivery to gas stations will be interrupted due to the roads and refinery shutdowns, Fuel delivery pipelines may be down for long times. If you don't have power, the local gas station won't either. I bet electricity will be restored quicker than the roads etc. Not a good idea to store gasoline as it goes bad and is a fire hazard. Diesel is better long term with additives, but needs to be replaced from time to time, that's why you see propane powered emergency generators, it is stable.

 

[anonim1979]

Invest into the solar panels on the roof if you can.
In a few years add a battery (currently they are IMHO seriously overpriced).

See here for wk057's numbers that show that clearly:
Tesla's Powerpack is just too expensive | wk057's SkieNET

 

[BluestarE3]

Get a Chevy Volt?

 

[berkeley_ecar]

Last time I looked, gas pumps ran on electricity as well. In light of all the foregoing, I
think your energy is better spent ensuring you have good emergency supply kits set up at work and at home, and not worrying about this. There are far too many imponderables if a large quake hits. Would you even want to be on the roads after a major quake (making the unlikely assumption that the roads would be navigable after "the big one"), given that they would be crammed with panicked (and probably aggressive, and in some cases armed) drivers? If you think crossing the Bay Bridge in rush hour is bad, just imagine...

 

[jerjozwik]

for the longest time i thought about buying a bicycle for backup for when a large earthquake hits los angeles. then i realized someone would either break into my garage and take it, or knock me off of it while i was bicycling back with candy bars or whatever small item i would be out retrieving.

 

[Evbwcaer]

Get a generator, then you will have a Tesla that can run on electricity or gasoline, and you will have the generator for your fridge and all that.

 

[Phoenixhawk101]

Invest into the solar panels on the roof if you can.
In a few years add a battery (currently they are IMHO seriously overpriced).

See here for wk057's numbers that show that clearly:
Tesla's Powerpack is just too expensive | wk057's SkieNET

What the heck is he doing pricing out a 100kw power pack setup? Of course it's over priced at that scale. 100KW, what the heck is he powering at his home a fusion reactor?

 

[calisnow]

I am in San Francisco area. My wife drives a Model X and I am thinking of selling my BMW 335 and get a CPO Model S. But one concern is if all our cars are EVs, what if electricity went out during a major disaster like an earthquake or war. Will it be more disaster-proof if we have both types of cars and choose whichever energy source (electricity vs gas) that is the most available in those hard times? That's why I am thinking of keeping the BMW as a backup car.
What are your thoughts on this?

Your concerns are reasonable and valid. I personally have a paid-off, fully depreciated gas SUV I'm holding onto for similar emergency reasons.

 

[Saghost]

If your living situation supports it, buy solar panels and a Powerwall instead of keeping the gas car. Then your power won't go out, and a generator can be run briefly on whatever fuel you can find to fill up the battery and charge the cars if needed instead of running continuously or every hour to power a fridge, etc.

As Sandy demonstrated out here, serious incidents will affect both the power grid and gas availability, and you probably won't really want to go anywhere unless there's a chance to evacuate before whatever hits - in which case a Tesla is a better bet, because the car will be mostly charged when the incident arrives, and the Superchargers are more likely to handle the evacuee load than the gas stations will when a panic hits if you need to evacuate several hundred miles.

 

[anonim1979]

What the heck is he doing pricing out a 100kw power pack setup? Of course it's over priced at that scale. 100KW, what the heck is he powering at his home a fusion reactor?

Tesla (well two, and a house...).
Like OP wants...

Anyway wk057 compares it to his off-grid system made from salvaged packs.
AFAIK Tesla "balanced" pricing of PowerWall to PowerPack (that can be priced at premium due to peaker electricity rates to utilities). PowerWall is simply not a good value right now unless you need to power some critical equipment.
Read whole linked article (the details are further in text) and check his page for more info if interested.

 

[Saghost]

Tesla (well two, and a house...).
Like OP wants...

Anyway wk057 compares it to his off-grid system made from salvaged packs.
AFAIK Tesla "balanced" pricing of PowerWall to PowerPack (that can be priced at premium due to peaker electricity rates to utilities). PowerWall is simply not a good value right now unless you need to power some critical equipment.
Read whole linked article (the details are further in text) and check his page for more info if interested.

Do note that the powerwall in his comparison is a first generation one. The second generation are more than twice the capacity - 14 kWh usable - for $5500 before installation, which includes a built in 7 kW inverter I believe. So none of the numbers are still valid, though the overall point may be.

More importantly, he's analyzing whether you can make money back by buying the battery pack, based on exploiting time of use rates and selling power back. That's an entirely different question from the contingency planning that this thread is about...

 

[anonim1979]

Touché.

 

[davinci2017]

I have a tiny car paid off gas car as backup. But earthquake falls way below on the list of why I hold onto it

1. When you know you are going to a place with crazy drivers and super tight parking (Ex: farmers market, Costco, etc)
2. When you need to leave the car outside for longer term parking
3. Car to lend to friends/family when they need one (seriously this happens more often than you think)
4. The edge case that I forgot to charge and I REALLY do not have time (yeah right!)
5. Major grid outage in entire region
6. EMP!!!!!! EMP!!!!
7. Hackers take over AP2 EAP vehicles and Elon takes a year to fix it
8. Sacrificial car to drive into the zombies with a payload

 

[Saghost]

I have a tiny car paid off gas car as backup. But earthquake falls way below on the list of why I hold onto it

1. When you know you are going to a place with crazy drivers and super tight parking (Ex: farmers market, Costco, etc)
2. When you need to leave the car outside for longer term parking
3. Car to lend to friends/family when they need one (seriously this happens more often than you think)
4. The edge case that I forgot to charge and I REALLY do not have time (yeah right!)
5. Major grid outage in entire region
6. EMP!!!!!! EMP!!!!
7. Hackers take over AP2 EAP vehicles and Elon takes a year to fix it
8. Sacrificial car to drive into the zombies with a payload

Those first three reasons actually make sense, though you'd have to decide how often those cases occur vs how much you pay to keep the car.

There are times I wish I had a less visible, less expensive car to park in some places, especially long term.

 

[AmpedRealtor]

Sell the gas car and buy solar panels + power wall. The two can power your Model S when everyone else cannot get electricity or gasoline. And one more thing... stop living in fear.

 

[McRat]

You are going to have much bigger issues in a serious earthquake in San Francisco. Remember that the road system was designed by the House of Pancakes. And the buildings are designed like cars, they collapse in an emergency. Oppsss... no airbags, my bad.

In any case, in a serious natural disaster, you really mostly need:
Fresh water
Canned food
Flashlights
Radio
Blankets and warm clothing
(just to piss off the PC crowd) a firearm, preferably a shotgun, and at least 50 rounds.

You don't need to drive to the gym, work, shopping, take the kids to school, etc. You need to wait it out until services, roads, and order is restored.

 

[SmartElectric]

What a world we live in...
I think it's wasteful and unnecessary to own a gas car you never need.
And if parking lots are an issue, get a Smart ED like me!
And if EMP is an issue, you're screwed with any car, they're all computers on wheels.
And if you're concerned someone would steal your bike from you while riding back with candy bars, I have no words...just this pic:

 

[jerjozwik]

lol, it was a joke @SmartElectric.