Tesla vehicle onboard charging need "Storm Watch" type feature to top-off battery to 100% instead of 80% before possible weather caused power outage

[firsttruck]

* Note: this function is primarily for over night charging of NON LFP batteries where charging to only 80% is the normal everyday recommendation but prior to storm and possible outage charging to full 100% might be preferable. This might not be needed for LFP batteries because they are usually charged to 100% every night.

Tesla vehicle onboard charging need "Storm Watch" type feature to top-off battery to 100% instead of 80% before possible outage

Tesla Powerwall has this feature to try an ensure Powerwall is fully charged before possible power outage caused by a severe weather event.

This function when charging NON LFP type batteries over night would try to ensure vehicle was fully charged to 100% instead of 80% so vehicle has maximum range the next morning.

It would be very useful if Tesla & competitor EV wall chargers makers added this function to their devices. I think the vehicle's onboard charging control need an update for this feature too.

In case the power utility tries jacking up the rates (to $10s, 100s, 1,000s per minute) this "Storm Watch" would need some price/cost limits and request permission of owner if price limit is exceeded.

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Tesla Support | Powerwall | Storm Watch
https://www.tesla.com/support/energy/powerwall/mobile-app/storm-watch

What is the storm watch feature? Storm Watch allows you to maximize savings by keeping a low backup reserve percentage in Self-Powered or Time-Based Control mode, while still having peace of mind that Powerwall will automatically react to protect you during a severe weather event.

Severe Weather Events Storm Watch mode is triggered during severe weather events that are more likely to damage power lines and cause power outages.

When Storm Watch is enabled, Powerwall will automatically activate Storm Watch mode when the National Weather Service sends a severe weather alert. This mode pushes the limits and charges Powerwall to maximum capacity so it can provide backup power.

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Tesla says it had 400,000 Storm Watch activations on Powerwalls last year alone
Tesla confirmed an interesting data point: It had 400,000 Storm Watch activations on Powerwall battery packs in 2021. The feature helps homeowners avoid power outages in extreme weather.
Jan 31 2022
https://electrek.co/2022/01/31/tesla-storm-watch-activations-powerwalls-2021/

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How Power Outages Are Affecting California
Use the interactive map to see when and where power outages happen
Millions of people throughout California lost power this past October as a result of intentional blackouts designed to cut the risk of wildfires. But these utility-initiated “de-energization events” were only a fraction of the power outages in the state over the last two years.
In fact, there were more than 50,000 significant blackout events in California. Many of these customers, defined as a single utility meter serving a home or a business, likely experienced multiple outages. There’s no way to determine which ones did. But taken together the blackouts impacted the equivalent of 51 million customers.
https://www.bloomenergy.com/bloom-energy-outage-map/

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** firsttruck - this report has good info and is not very long (can be browsed quickly) **

Published 2004 April 9 by U.S. Congressional Research Service
Electric Utility Infrastructure Vulnerabilities: Transformers, Towers, and Terrorism
https://sgp.fas.org/crs/homesec/R42795.pdf
.....
A spectrum of threats exists to the electric system ranging from weather-related to terrorist attacks (by both domestic & foreign terrorists), including physical attacks, as well as attacks on computer systems, or cyber attacks. The main risk from weather-related damage or a terrorist attack against the electric power industry is a widespread power outage that lasts for an extended period of time.
....
The more congested (including because of customers high usage due to excessively hot or cold weather) the transmission system, the more vulnerable the system could be to intentional attack and outages due to weather-related damage.

.....
In October 2003, a saboteur removed support bolts at the base of twenty high-power transmission towers in the Pacific Northwest. The suspect surrendered to police on November 2, 2003, and later admitted to the crime; he was sentenced to 27 months in prison and ordered to pay $37,000 in restitution. At his sentencing, the saboteur said he was trying to point out the power system’s vulnerability.

.....

Transmission System Physical Vulnerability
....
As will be discussed in this section, the most critical components of the transmission system are the HV transformers. Utilities rarely experience loss of an individual HV transformer, but recovery from such a loss takes months if no spare is available. Conversely, utilities regularly experience damage to transmission towers due to both weather and malicious activities, and are able to recover from this damage fairly rapidly ( fairly rapidly still might be several days or couple weeks).

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How many high-voltage transformers are there in the US?
In 2015 U.S., there were 2100 high voltage transformers with a 345 kV rating, and in 2021, there were about 2400 more, primarily because there were more local development projects.
17 ene 2023
North America Power Transformer Market to Hit USD ...
EIN News einnews.com
https://www.einnews.com › pr_news › north-america-po

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Is there a transformer shortage in the United States?
Today, the average time for obtaining new transformers in the US has grown from about two months prior to 2021 to 12 months in 2022, according to a survey of public power utilities. Already, the shortage has forced 20 per cent of utility companies to either delay or cancel electrical grid projects.
11 mar 2023
A massive power transformer shortage is wreaking havoc in the US
https://www.newscientist.com/articl...sformer-shortage-is-wreaking-havoc-in-the-us/

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Published 2013 August 8 by Union of Concerned Scientists
13 of the Largest Power Outages in History — and What They Tell Us About the 2003 Northeast Blackout
https://blog.ucsusa.org/mike-jacobs...-of-the-largest-power-outages-in-history-199/

.....
3) June 2012
Derecho: Wind storm damaged trees and equipment, cutting power to approximately 4.2 million customers across 11 Midwest and Mid-Atlantic states and the District of Columbia. Widespread tree clearing and line restoration efforts in many cases took 7 to 10 days.

7) August 14, 2003
Northeastern US and Ontario: Transmission system failed for many reasons seen in major outages that came years before. Information was incomplete and misunderstood; inadequate tree trimming caused short circuit; operators lacked coordination. System imbalances and overloads seen early in the day were not corrected due to lack of enforcement of coordination. 50 million people across eight states and Ontario were without power up to four days.

5) September 8, 2011
California-Arizona: Transmission failure was set up by Southern California’s heavy dependence on power imports from Arizona, an ongoing problem. Hot weather after the end of the summer season, as determined by the engineering schedule, conflicted with generation and transmission outages planned for maintenance. Then two weaknesses — operations planning and real-time situational awareness — left operators vulnerable to a technician’s mistake switching major equipment. This outage lasted 12 hours, affecting 2.7 million people.

4) October 2011 Northeast U.S.: Record early snowstorm brought down trees and wires. Outages could only follow removal of snow and fallen trees. More than three million customers in Mid-Atlantic and New England states were without power, many over 10 days.

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Northeast blackout of 2003 was a widespread power outage throughout parts of the Northeastern and Midwestern United States, and most parts of the Canadian province of Ontario on Thursday, August 14, 2003, beginning just after 4:10 p.m. EDT.
Outage Duration: 2 hours to 4 days, depending on location
General Location: Northeastern United States, Southeastern Canada
Type: Blackout
Cause: Software bug in the alarm system in the control room of FirstEnergy
Outcome: 55 million people affected
Deaths: almost 100
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northeast_blackout_of_2003

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Hurricane Sandy Power Outages (2012) When Hurricane Sandy hit the East Coast of the US in October 2012, many people lost their property due to flooding and strong winds.

Yet another reason for significant distress was caused by the power outages that affected over 8 million people across 21 states. While in some places the electricity reappeared in a matter of days, other areas had to wait for weeks for the power to be restored.

On the Impacts of Power Outages during Hurricane Sandy—A Resilience-Based Analysis
Published: 22 April 2016
By Devanandham Henry, Jose Emmanuel Ramirez-Marquez
https://incose.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/sys.21338

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[SolarWizard]

Ev ”chargers” mounted on the well are simply smart outlets.
the charger is inside the vehicle, thus controlling the percentages is don’t through the vehicle’s software.
as far as batteries, all the major market units do the same thing as the Powerwall if asked.

there’s nothing stopping end users from watching the weather reports so I personally don’t see the need for this

 

[Sirfun]

With my Ebike, I've been advised to only fully charge it, when I'm planning on using it right away. One of the things that's hard on the batteries is to fill them up, then let them sit at that status. Much better to store them at 80 percent. With the possibility of a storm. I'm likely to stay home off the roads.

 

[Rutrow]

I'll speak up for the power companies. "We're opposed to anything that causes lots of people to start using any electric appliances all at the same time!!!"

Weather watches and warnings can go into effect for thousands to millions of households in an instant. Having a program start every plugged in EV to begin charging at the same time could crash the grid. There's a little more elegant, slow ramp up system that would rely on each person to bump up their max limit only when they learn about the storm approaching. Don't fix what ain't broke.

 

[Gurule92]

Ev ”chargers” mounted on the well are simply smart outlets.
the charger is inside the vehicle, thus controlling the percentages is don’t through the vehicle’s software.
as far as batteries, all the major market units do the same thing as the Powerwall if asked.

there’s nothing stopping end users from watching the weather reports so I personally don’t see the need for this

There is nothing stopping end users of power walls from watching for storms too. Just because the user can do it doesn't mean there isn't a use case for it. The user can drive their own car too, so why make autopilot or FSD?

I'm here for a storm watch mode.

Maybe even just a notification on your phone that says "A severe storm is headed your way. Want to charge to 100%?" Hit yes and boom

 

[Gurule92]

With my Ebike, I've been advised to only fully charge it, when I'm planning on using it right away. One of the things that's hard on the batteries is to fill them up, then let them sit at that status. Much better to store them at 80 percent. With the possibility of a storm. I'm likely to stay home off the roads.

What if you had vehicle to home? Would you want car storm mode then?

 

[firsttruck]

Ev ”chargers” mounted on the well are simply smart outlets.
the charger is inside the vehicle, thus controlling the percentages is don’t through the vehicle’s software.

Yes, I said "onboard charger".

there’s nothing stopping end users from watching the weather reports so I personally don’t see the need for this

Hard to do If you are asleep. Storms also frequently suddenly change direction and strength.

 

[Sirfun]

What if you had vehicle to home? Would you want car storm mode then?

Yes, that would make sense to me. Just like getting water and supplies before a severe storm where there's a possible need. Plus your battery isn't just sitting there FULL.
I'd at least drain some of the energy after the storm passed by. I am all in, on V2H. It's a great way to get value from your vehicle while it's NOT on the road.

 

[JBee]

There's no real reason not to be able to opt in to a Strom Charge mode long before an event ever occurs. From then on it would do it automatically and maybe could give you notifications is that is still ok before it does it. That way if you miss the notification, it's still charged at least.

The trick would be to get the charge completed a day or more before the storm, so that the grid doesn't have such a peak load just before the storm hits, which in turn might lead to power outages prior to the storm if too many people do it.

 

[CyberGus]

In the event of a storm warning, the power company should cut off all Powerwalls and EVs to save the electricity for the Real Americans

 

[HaulingAss]

Meh, if there's no power, you can't fill up a gas car either.

Let me know when there's a gas car that will lookout for gas shortages and fill up in my driveway. Most of us have been through regional gas shortages and they tend to last a lot longer than a simple power outage.

 

[AxelR]

Not sure why that first post was so long…

It’s pretty easy to check the weather forecast and decide for yourself how to act.
I don’t miss the days of going to the store and all the shelves are empty because of a snow storm (or COVID). People tend to forget they live in society.

 

[firsttruck]

.....
It’s pretty easy to check the weather forecast and decide for yourself how to act.
I don’t miss the days of going to the store and all the shelves are empty because of a snow storm (or COVID). People tend to forget they live in society.

Yeah sure.

You probably never use PC screen saver/dimmer. Just click saver/dimmer every time you leave your PC.

Never use auto cancel turn signal on car. Just manual turnoff turn signal after every turn.

Never use cruise control on a hours long car trip on interstate. Car has accelerator pedal and you have a foot.

Never get auto notification of car recalls. You can go to the car manufacturers web site everyday.
If you miss the car brake recall and you crash at the bottom of the the hill, well you have no worries now.

Cities/towns don't need warning sirens because everybody can frequently pause work to check weather.

 

[Gurule92]

Not sure why that first post was so long…

It’s pretty easy to check the weather forecast and decide for yourself how to act.
I don’t miss the days of going to the store and all the shelves are empty because of a snow storm (or COVID). People tend to forget they live in society.

 

[Gurule92]

Yeah sure.

You probably never use PC screen saver/dimmer. Just click saver/dimmer every time you leave your PC.

Never use auto cancel turn signal on car. Just manual turnoff turn signal after every turn.

Never use cruise control on a hours long car trip on interstate. Car has accelerator pedal and you have a foot.

Never get auto notification of car recalls. You can go to the car manufacturers web site everyday.
If you miss the car brake recall and you crash at the bottom of the the hill, well you have not worries now.

Cities/towns don't need warning sirens because everybody can frequently pause work to check weather.

Why even have online weather services? You can go outside and look

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