Tornadoes knocked out my home power for days, but my Rivian became a backup energy savior
The title says it all. Heavy thunderstorms and tornadoes ripped through the Midwest Thursday evening, leaving thousands of homes without power or internet. Luckily, my home dodged severe damage, but I was without power and internet for days. Luckily, I had my Rivian R1S in the garage that I used as a backup energy source, which I documented below (because I honestly had nothing else to do without power and internet).
You may or may not (probably not) have noticed that I was MIA from the Electrek homepage last Friday. That’s because the night before, around 10 PM, my neighborhood was hit with one of the nastiest storms I’ve seen in quite some time. By about 10:30 PM, my home’s power and internet were knocked out, and I’d come to find I wouldn’t be back online on the grid or the web until Sunday.
Multiple tornadoes, mangling trees, boats, and power lines, touched down nearby. In that sense, I was pretty lucky as all I had were some dead fallen branches, a couple of backyard items tipped over, and a pool cover with another pool’s worth of water sitting atop it.
Still, I was without power or internet, and my home used a well pump, so there were no showers or toilets either. Fun!
I’m a millennial who grew up before and after widespread ISPs and smartphones, so I can deal with the lack of internet and the fact that we decided not to purchase a backup generator (although hearing all the neighbors’ humming with lights aglow did strike a nerve of envy each night). My genuine concern, however, was the fridges and freezers.
We had two fridges full of food, and one freezer had just been stocked with an entire box of Farmer’s Dog for our pooch Lily. If you’ve ever ordered Farmer’s Dog, you know that it is EXPENSIVE. So, letting it all thaw out and spoil was not an option. We needed backup power fast, so I turned to my Rivian R1S.
It delivered to the fullest.
My Rivian gave me days of seamless backup power
I want to start by saying I’ve only had my Rivian for a few months, so I don’t have a holistic home energy management system in place. Therefore, I couldn’t use the R1S as backup power for my entire home, but that was fine, to be honest.
The Rivian provided all the necessary backup power I needed for vital appliances and electronics, with plenty of additional energy leftover when the lights inevitably came back on.
As you can see from the diagram above, the Rivian R1S offers a slew of power ports to fit various needs, whether it’s while driving, out in the wild, or providing backup power to your home. To power my garage fridge (with the dog food in the freezer), I simply ran an extension cord from the truck’s rear 120V plug through the garage and plugged in the fridge directly.
It was as simple as that. It was music to my ears when the fridge lit up inside and began to hum. Lily’s food was still frozen solid, and my beers were still cold to the touch. What a win. I also moved several essential food items and medications from the kitchen into the garage to prevent them from spoiling.
As you can see from the image above, I also set my Rivian on a timer for backup energy, allowing at least two days of full use to ensure the fridge stayed on. At the same time, I used the backup power stored in my Rivian to charge devices like my phone, watch, and smaller portable battery packs.
I could have plugged in a lot more, and will keep that in mind if and when there’s another blackout, but the Rivian provided more than enough backup energy for what I needed. When it was all said and done, I only drained about 25 miles of range from the battery after powering my fridge and other devices for days.
Not only was I impressed by how much stored energy I had at my disposal, but it was also incredible how easily I could access the BEV’s two 120V plugs and abundant USB-C ports.
Thank you, Rivian, for helping me keep Lily’s food frozen. You don’t want to see her without her Farmer’s Dog. It’s ugly.
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Tesla has wiped off the 26,000 miles on the odometer of a Cybertruck in service, scratched the vehicle, and then returned it to the owner like nothing happened.
A Tesla Cybertruck owner in Oregon was quite surprised when he went to pick up his Cybertruck, which was in service to install a new lightbar, fix some panel gaps, and figure out an ABS alert that wouldn’t go away.
According to a thread on the Cybertruck Owners Club, Tesla had wiped the odometer clean on the Foundation Series ‘Cyberbeast’, which had over 26,000 miles on it.
The owner shared a video of the Cybertruck’s odometer going from 0 to 1 mile for the second time:
The odometer on the vehicle was wiped and both the app and service many also showed the same mileage.
The owner shared a screenshot of the app after 15 miles:
He went to the online forum for advice:
Anyone else have their odometer Thanos-snapped after a controller swap? Can Tesla unsnap it or am I forever “True Mileage Unknown”?
Interestingly, Tesla is currently being sued for allegedly messing with the odometers of its vehicles. However, the lawsuit is for accelerating the mileage, not reducing it, like in this case.
It was not the only surprise from this service visit for this Cybertruck owner.
The owner was not satisfied with the lightbar installation, which he claims has a half-inch gap on the passenger side while it is flush on the driver side. He wrote:
It’s basically smiling sideways at everyone.
It’s also unclear why Tesla was messing with the vehicle’s tailgate, but it ended up having a bolt moving around it, causing scratches and Tesla left a bolt unbolted:
At this point, the truck was returned with more problems than it had when it entered service.
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Nissan is on the brink of collapsing. After the Honda deal fell through, it looks like another Japanese automaker is tossing it a lifeline. As Nissan struggles to stay afloat, Toyota is emerging as a potential “backer” in a new tie-up.
Are Toyota and Nissan partnering?
“If we don’t take action now, the situation will only get worse,” Nissan’s President, Ivan Espinosa, said during a press conference on May 13.
Facing falling sales, ballooning debt, and slumping profits, Nissan introduced a new recovery plan last week, “Re:Nissan.” The struggling automaker aims to cut costs by 250 billion yen to return to profitability by FY 2026.
As part of its efforts to turn the business around, Nissan will cut 20,000 jobs by FY2027. It’s also abandoning plans to build a new EV battery facility in Japan. Seven other plants will be closed, including one in Thailand and two in Japan.
After its planned EV merger with Honda fell through in February, rumours surfaced that Nissan was scrambling to find another partner.
According to a new report from Japan’s MainiChi, a Toyota executive recently reached out to Nissan about a potential partnership. The tie-up could involve Toyota acting as Nissan’s “backer” to support it while it restructures.
Nissan and Toyota both unveiled a wave of new electric vehicles set to roll out over the next few years. The upgraded Nissan LEAF EV will arrive in the US and Canada later this year with more range, an NACS port, and a new crossover style. It will be one of ten new Nissan or Infiniti models to arrive by 2027.
In Europe, Nissan will launch the next-gen LEAF later this year, followed by the new Micra EV and Qashqai electric crossover. In 2026, the new Nissan Juke EV will join the lineup.
Meanwhile, Toyota’s upgraded bZ electric SUV (formerly the “bZ4X”) will arrive at US dealerships in the second half of 2025.
In 2026, the smaller C-HR electric SUV and rugged bZ Woodland EV will follow. By the end of the year, Europe will see three new Toyota electric SUVs: the C-HR+, Urban Cruiser, and upgraded bZ4X.
Electrek’s Take
Toyota already has a stake in several Japanese automakers, including Subaru (20%), Mazda (5.1%), Suzuki (4.6%), and Isuzu (5.9%), so backing Nissan wouldn’t come as a shock.
Espinosa said Nissan was open to new partnerships. Nissan’s chief said the company will continue collaborating with others, including Mitsubishi, which will use the upcoming LEAF as the basis for its new EV for North America.
Japanese carmakers have been notoriously slow in shifting to all-electric vehicles, which is now costing them in key overseas markets like Southeast Asia, Central and South America, and others.
Chinese EV leaders, like BYD, are quickly expanding overseas to drive growth this year. Next year, it will launch its first kei car (see the first spy shots), or mini EV, which is already being called “a huge threat” to Japan.
Pooling resources and teaming up may be the best (or only) option at this point. Can Toyota help Nissan turn things around? Or will it be too little, too late? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
Check back soon for details. This is a developing story. We’ll keep you updated with the latest.
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