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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BYD’s new EV is about the size of a Tesla Model 3, but half the cost in China. After launching the e7, BYD is already boasting that it will be the “winner’s choice” for midsize EV sedans. Here’s our first look at the new low-cost electric sedan.
Will the new BYD e7 EV rival the Tesla Model 3 in China?
After previewing the e7 for the first time a little over a month ago, BYD officially launched the midsize electric sedan on Saturday.
The new e7 is available in three “Smart” trims, starting at 103,800 yuan, or about $14,500. For a limited time, BYD is offering a renewal price of 99,800 yuan ($13,900).
Buyers can choose from two BYD Blade battery options: 48 or 57.8 kWh, providing CLTC driving ranges of 450 and 520 km, respectively.
BYD’s new midsize EV sedan is about the size of a Tesla Model 3: 4,780 mm long, 1,900 mm wide, 1,515 mm tall, and 2,820 mm wheelbase.
Although it looks similar to other BYD models, the e7 has a few unique design elements, including a “Smiling and high-spirited” front face design, full-score LED headlights, and a duck tail.
We knew it would be a lower-priced EV after the preview showed the e7 with traditional door handles, rather than the flush ones found on newer models.
Like BYD’s other new vehicles, the interior is relatively simple with a 15.6″ central infotainment at the center and a 5″ driver display cluster. It’s also loaded with the advanced version of BYD’s smart cockpit and DiLink100.
The “ingeniously crafted comfortable cockpit,” as BYD calls it, is available with ergonomic cloud-sensing seats, an integrated hand gear, and a panoramic sunroof.
Although the e7 is part of BYD’s e-series, a lower-priced lineup aimed at younger drivers or taxi services, it’s now being absorbed into its Ocean series with other popular EVs like the Dolphin and Seagull.
BYD’s new EV is over half the cost of a base Tesla Model 3 RWD model in China, which starts at 235,500 yuan ($32,700). But, to be fair, the base Model 3 has a CLTC driving range of up to 634 km (394 miles). For 275,500 yuan ($38,200), the Model 3 Long Range AWD is rated with up to 713 km (443 miles) CLTC range.
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Hyundai is gaining traction where most automakers are struggling to stay afloat. Despite a flood of low-cost electric cars and an intensifying price war, Hyundai sees an opportunity “to write a new chapter” with its first dedicated EV rolling out in China.
Will Hyundai’s new EV spark a comeback in China?
Leading up to its debut, we thought it could be the IONIQ 4 with a sleek new look. The ELEXIO is Hyundai’s first custom-tailored EV for China.
During its global debut earlier this month in Shanghai, Hyundai said China is a “must-fight place,” calling it “the core of Hyundai Motor’s global strategy.” The company also revealed its “In China, for China, to the World” strategy as it looks to make a comeback in the world’s largest EV market.
According to Hyundai, the company is already seeing early success. On Monday, Hyundai’s joint venture in China, Beijing Hyundai, announced that its losses improved by over 100 billion won ($72 million) in the first quarter.
The company posted a net loss of 42.3 billion won in the first three months of 2025, down from the massive 146 billion won ($105 million) in Q1 2024. At this pace, Hyundai could see a profit by the second quarter in China.
Hyundai said lower operating costs spurred the cost improvements after the company sold its Chongqing plant last year.
It’s also due to rising exports. Beijing Hyundai exported 14,999 vehicles in Q1, up significantly from just 608 a year ago. Hyundai’s Chinese JV is investing 8 billion yuan ( $1.1 billion) as it looks to revamp the business.
Although it’s already seeing some success, Hyundai’s new ELEXIO electric SUV is expected to accelerate its momentum. With the EV launching in the second half of 2025, Hyundai could turn a profit by the end of the year. It may even happen as early as the second quarter.
Hyundai claims the new EV opens “a new starting point for the transformation from traditional fuel vehicle giant to electrification” in China.
The ELEXIO electric SUV, dubbed the Chinese version of its popular IONIQ 5, rocks a new look with crystal cube LED headlights and a full-length light bar that stretches across the front.
Based on Hyundai’s E-GMP platform, which powers the IONIQ 5, the ELEXIO is rated with up to 435 miles (700 km) CLTC driving range. More details, including prices and trim options, will be revealed closer to launch. Check back soon for the latest.
What do you think of Hyundai’s new electric SUV? Would you buy the ELEXIO in Europe, the US, or other global markets? Let us know in the comments.
Source: Newsis, Beijing Hyundai
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Tesla announced it paid Powerwall owners $9.9 million through its virtual power plant programs in 2024.
Distributed energy is working.
A virtual power plant (VPP) consists of distributed energy storage systems, like Tesla Powerwalls, used in concert to provide grid services and avoid the use of polluting and expensive peaker power plants.
Peaker plants are fossil fuel-powered power plants that are activated in peak energy usage times to ensure the grid has enough power to supply the demand and avoid brownouts.
It is a fairly new technology that aims to decentralize the grid, helping make it more secure and stable while reducing costs.
Tesla has been an early adopter of the technology through the deployment of its Powerwall, a popular home battery pack.
In areas with high penetration of the home battery, Tesla can make a deal with the local electric utility to pull power from the Powerwalls in customer homes when needed, and those homeowners get compensated at an attractive rate.
Today, Tesla announced that it paid Powerwall owners nearly $10 million through VPPs in 2024:
We paid out $9.9M to Powerwall owners who supported the grid through Virtual Power Plant participation in 2024.
Tesla’s first VPP launched in Australia in 2019. The company first aimed for 50,000 homes, but we learned that it is at about 7,000 homes and 35 MW as of the end of last year when Tesla was looking to sell the virtual power plant.
In 2021, Tesla launched a VPP pilot program in California, in which Powerwall owners would voluntarily and without compensation let the VPP pull power from their battery packs when the grid needed it.
It helped Tesla prove the usefulness of such a system.
Following the pilot program, Tesla and PG&E, the electric utility covering Northern California, launched the first official virtual power plant through the Tesla app.
This new version of the Tesla Virtual Power Plant actually compensates Powerwall owners $2 per kWh that they contribute to the grid during emergency load reduction events. Homeowners are expected to get between $10 and $60 per event.
Later, we reported that Tesla’s California VPP expanded to Southern California Edison (SCE) to now cover most of the state.
Last year, Tesla’s California VPPs reached over 100 MW in capacity, and the company also started building significant VPPs in Texas.
Some Powerwall owners are now reporting making hundreds of dollars per year per Powerwall through Tesla’s virtual power plant.
Electrek’s Take
This is awesome. I love distributed energy. VPPs not only make home energy storage more financially viable, but they also often mean that fossil fuel-powered peaker plants are being replaced by solar power and energy storage, as most Powerwalls and other home battery packs are linked to home solar power.
It’s not super popular yet because it requires the cooperation of the electric utilities and the regulators, but it appears to be viable in most places.
If you have home solar and energy storage, or looking to add solar and energy storage at home, it’s worth looking into.
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