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.
The original article states they would have been forced to drive through storms and flash-flooding (the cause of the general area power failures) to get to Brisbane, the nearest major city, if they weren’t able to perform the dialysis that night. The distances mean its about a 60-90 minute drive with no interruptions on a clear day, so plenty of time and distance for accidents to potentially occur dealing with ongoing flash-flooding and storm on an open road.
10 people have been found dead so far after these storms.
The dialysis was required. Travelling for it would have been dangerous at that time. Having it at home due to EV power meant they didn’t have to risk the danger of doing so.
So I can see why they include life-saving, but put it in quotes.