Have you ever seen those signs at the gas pumps that say “no smoking” and wondered who would possibly be dumb enough to light up a cigarette when pumping a very, very flammable liquid and surrounded by others doing the exact same thing?
Well, though EVs don’t require gas so you might be able to light up while filling up (though I doubt there’s much overlap between the Marlborough crowd and Tesla crowd), it turns out there’s a different possible issue that you’ll have to watch for when filling up an EV: water.
Such was exposed by a hilarious meme showing a Tesla charging station that’s been completely flooded and says “You Thought Smoking at the pump was risky sh*t”
Yeah, I definitely wouldn’t want to stand in water and power up anything (though doing so would, theoretically, at least, be safe, as is explained below).
— Catturd
(@catturd2) July 30, 2022
The perfect caption, right?
However, for the fact-checkers out there, even during heavy rain you can theoretically charge up an EV, as one site reported, saying:
With monsoons in full effect, a question seems to enter many minds regarding whether it is safe to charge your EV during rains or even drive it during rains. It is an understatement to say that electricity and water do not mix so what is the case with an electric car? Well, in the case of an EV you can be sure of it being safe just as a standard petrol/diesel car is.
In all EVs, there is an Ingress Protection or IP rating system which means that your EV’s battery is safe from dust and water. How safe? Like any car, it is advisable not to drive it deep into flooded roads but just to explain an IP67 rating will mean the car can be submerged under 1 metre of water for up to 30 minutes. Hence, if it rains, there is no issue in regards to driving your EV.
Plus even in the worst case, there are many protective layers to a car and the battery will remain safe and separate itself if all water comes in. Hence, there is no chance of the driver having any issue at all.
So theoretically you could still charge up even if it’s raining or the place is flooded…though anyone would likely be a bit uncomfortable with doing so given what we all know about water and electricity.
In any case, people online were quick to comment at the expense of EVs and EV manufacturers:
“all that green energy just stuck there lol”
“What happens when Apple starts making EV’s and requires a different charging cable for each model they manufacture?”
“Big difference pumping gas vs. connecting a large electrical cable while standing in water.”
“Wonder what electric car people are gonna do when a hurricane is approaching and they’re all trying to get quickly out of dodge at the same time?”
“It just doesn’t seem safe in an emergency. I can keep gallons of gas in my garage if I need to make an escape but if my electricity runs out in a bad place I could be in big trouble.”
“Electric cars are like golf carts. You drive them as far as the grocery store and take them back home and plug them in. They were not meant to be a “journey” mobile. If you want to go fast and far use Fossil fuels!”
“Imagine being 5 cars back at an electric charging station – and waiting 4 hours to get another 150 miles”
“They need to have some kinda roof over those so your not getting wet while plugging ur car in.. also should probably install some drainage for that lot.. cause well no-one wants to go through ankle deep water.. what a mess. Nobody is ready for this big change Joe’s pushing”
“I think this photo symbolizes the last couple years of society perfectly.”
“Someone probably paid a democrat-connected engineering firm millions to design that, and they could even be bothered to think about stormwater. “
“It’s what I ask people who have electric cars. It doesn’t rain much in CA, AZ, etc. but it rains a lot everywhere else”
“Bahahaha no kidding! Snap, crackle pop and you’re done!”
By: Gen Z Conservative, editor of GenZConservative.com. Follow me on Facebook and Subscribe to My Email List
This story syndicated with permission from Gen Z Conservative