When Rivian said its electric pickup was built to “handle it all,” it wasn’t bluffing. A Rivian R1T owner in Asheville, North Carolina, had his vehicle dragged 100 to 150 feet after Hurricane Helene swept through the area. To even his surprise, Rivian’s electric pickup was still ready to run.
When Hurricane Helene knocked out the power in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Friday, Dustin Baker, like many other people across the Southeast, turned to a backup power source. His just happened to be an electric pickup truck. Over the weekend, Baker ran extension cords from the back of his Ford F-150 Lightning, using the truck’s battery to keep his refrigerator and freezer running. It worked so well that Baker became an energy Good Samaritan. “I ran another extension cord to my neighbor so they could run two refrigerators they have,” he told me.
2023 © Wind-Works by Paul Gipe