Unable to escape Hurricane Idalia due to loss of power

[CyberGus]

Hundreds or even thousands in Florida are unable to evacuate ahead of Hurricane Idalia due to infrastructure issues disabling their EVs.

Oh wait, nope, it's the gas-powered cars that are screwed.






As Idalia nears, Florida officials warn of ‘potentially widespread’ gas contamination
Updated 11:15 AM EDT, August 28, 2023

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Florida officials are warning drivers of potential fuel contamination at dozens of gas stations on the Gulf Coast as residents brace for the landfall later this week of Tropical Storm Idalia.

On Monday, Idalia was near the coast of Cuba and on a potential track to come ashore as a hurricane in the southern U.S. in the coming days, the National Hurricane Center said.

The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services said late Sunday that gasoline purchased after 10 a.m. Saturday at some Citgo-supplied stations had a strong likelihood of being contaminated with diesel fuel. Citgo identified 29 affected stations — sold at chains like 7-Eleven, BJ’s Wholesale and other convenience stores — in cities including Tampa, Fort Myers, Sarasota and more.

The contamination was caused by “human error,” the department said. In a Sunday statement, the Houston-headquartered Citgo cited a product routing issue at its Tampa terminal.

Those locations with potentially contaminated fuel have been notified and asked by Citgo to halt sales. Citgo is working to remove the contaminated fuel from all locations that may have it, the company said.

Using the contaminated fuel can damage the engines of vehicles or cause them to malfunction, state officials said. That is an even greater concern with so many residents potentially evacuating as Idalia approaches.

https://apnews.com/article/florida-...idalia-storm-f87e0a62250d252eff7ea51cc3a78880

 

[CyberC]

Because these are gas cars, it's an isolated event that only affects "a few" gas stations and those who have gotten gas since then. Should be cleared up by the time Idalia hits.

Now, if this had been an issue with EV charging stations and the same ratio of EVs had been affected, it would be conclusive proof that EVs are not and will never be ready to replace gas cars. Tesla's stock would tank and Ford would immediately halt Mach-E and Lightning production for an indefinite amount of time.

 

[TyPope]

I was told by a station that was adding a diesel choice to their station that once a tank had diesel fuel in it, it could never be used for regular gas again.

This was a station that had 3 tanks... Reg, Mid, High grades of gas. They were installing mixer pumps so by using regular and high octanes, they could mix them to get the mid grade. Then, they were putting diesel in the mid-grade fuel tank.

They took years to make the decision because they could never go back and digging up the tank to set it back to regular gas would be hard to justify if they found there was not a large enough market for diesel to support the store.

So, maybe Citgo and those guys with the diesel contamination have a better method than digging up the tank. Or maybe the store manager was just wrong.