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.
Technically yes, they ran the machine off the car battery but most hemodialysis patients don’t drop dead if they miss a session for a day. Also they could have used any vehicle to drive the kid to a dialysis center or a hospital which are probably required to have generators in Australia as they are elsewhere.
So you’re saying electric cars will save the planet?