Here’s the Largest EV Charging Station in America, Powered by… DIESEL FUEL!
COALINGA, CALIFORNIA — With 98 charging bays, the Harris Ranch Tesla Supercharger station in California is the largest electric vehicle (EV) charging station in the country.
But if you’re low on juice in your Musk-Mobile and pull in for a charge, it won’t be as green as you think. Because at the end of the day, you are actually filling up on diesel oil.
In order for EVs to reach 80 percent battery charge in 20 minutes, pure solar energy won’t do the trick at Harris Ranch. Instead, diesel generators are being used to power the charging bays.
Energy analyst David Blackmon told Cowboy State Daily that the use of diesel-powered generators at EV charging stations is not uncommon. Blackmon says that he used to shop at a Whole Foods in Houston, and the store had installed a charging station in the front for customers.
“It was the best parking spot in the lot, and it crowded out a bunch of handicap spaces,” Blackmon said – adding that there were diesel generators behind the store and whenever someone was using the chargers, the generators would kick on.
As Americans are being inundated with EV car commercials and pressure from regulators to “go green,” there is simply no viable or reliable infrastructure for that to happen on a grander scale.
GOING UP AGAINST THE GREEN AGENDA
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis – while on the campaign trail last month – warned about the dangers of a full-on transition to electric vehicles.
“We will unleash American energy dominance as a way to stop inflation and achieve $2 gas in 2025," DeSantis said in September. “The average on Wednesday for U.S. retail gasoline was about $3.88 a gallon.”
DeSantis also pointed out that much of the green agenda being pushed on Americans – including the pressure to buy EVs – is due to a “fear when it comes to things like global warming and climate change.”
SEVERE FIRE HAZARD
Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis – ahead of Hurricane Idalia in late August – warned that Floridians should move their EVs away from the coast in the event of storm surges.
“We saw a number of fires associated with EVs from Hurricane Ian. We know that the saltwater from storm surge can compromise these batteries, causing fires which cannot be easily suppressed,” Patronis said.
In 2022, Patronis penned a letter to over 30 EV manufacturers saying they should have worked out potential EV flaws – including the risk of spontaneous combustion.
“For as big a risk as this is to fire teams, for companies who have received an immense sum of subsidies from taxpayers, I would have hoped the reaction by manufacturers would have been more robust – especially as these EVs supposedly have a tremendous amount of technology and connectivity,” Patronis said.
He stated that the “best thing fire crews can do” is keep water on the batteries until the fuel burns out.