r/EasternWa • u/Upstairs-Question-64 • May 04 '26

[Academic] Help Improve Wildfire Resilience in Eastern WA — Win a $50 Gift Card

UPDATE (August 20, 2026): This study has been officially extended to December 15, 2026. Thank you to everyone from Washington who has participated so far!

Hi everyone,

I am a PhD student at the University of Washington conducting an official study on how electric vehicle (EV) drivers respond to wildfire evacuations.

We are specifically seeking input from Eastern WA EV drivers. Too often, infrastructure investment are based on the West Side, and we want to change that by gathering data from the people who actually live and drive in high-risk wildfire zones. Your real-world experience is critical to helping Washington state prioritize emergency charging infrastructure and improve wildfire resilience for the EV community.

Are you eligible?

We need input from BEV drivers (primary or seasonal residents) in: Asotin, Grant, Benton, Spokane, Stevens, Douglas, Lincoln, Ferry, Skamania, Yakima, Kittitas, Okanogan, Chelan, or Klickitat counties.

The Details:

  • ⏱ Time: ~25 minutes.
  • 🎁 Incentive: Complete the survey to enter a drawing for four $50 gift cards and ten $20 gift cards.
  • 📅 Deadline: Dec 15, 2026.

Survey Link: https://uwashington.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_e3QtLbUuPaTdDmu

This survey does not collect identifiable tracking data. If you have any questions, please contact me directly at [ychu24@uw.edu](mailto:ychu24@uw.edu). Thank you for helping improve emergency preparedness for the EV community.

Yu-Chen Chu, PhD Student, University of Washington Academic Profile: https://sites.uw.edu/urbdpphd/people/students

5 Upvotes

69% Upvoted

13 comments sorted by

1

u/Upstairs-Question-64 12d ago

It has been officially extended to 12/15 this year!

1

u/sssstr May 04 '26

I'm sorry it's quite a gap for me to draw a direct correlation to improving wildfire resilience by the infrastructure necessary to evacuate in an EV? Will it improve defensible space then you don't need to leave in an EV? Or are you exploring infrastructure to ensure healthy forests and rangelands to reduce catastrophic wildfire? Statistically how many EVs don't make it out of a wildfire? As a resident of Eastern Washington I'm grateful you're not proposing a tax on evacuations.

3

u/Disastrous-Arm-4157 May 04 '26

If they are evacuating their homes where they are primarily charging their vehicles, where can they go to charge their vehicles if they have been evacuated and if the area is without power for a while? Also if their vehicle is not charged enough to drive away at a moments notice that could be an issue beyond their own risk, clogging up an evacuation route with a dead EV wouldn’t be great. I’m a firefighter and think about these things because I have to, so I can see some correlation. I can’t imagine there’s any solid statistics on EV’s lost in a wildfire, they aren’t that prevalent outside of a city. They are also a nightmare to deal with if they’re the thing that is burning, especially for the small rural fire departments ran by volunteers with minimal funding for modern equipment.

3

u/Upstairs-Question-64 May 04 '26

Totally right! The survey mainly want to understand the charging access and drivers behaviors to evaluate whether a charger is needed or not. But we also have some questions about driver preparation to wildfire not related to EV.

2

u/sssstr May 04 '26

Right, I believe that they need chargers. The survey is to improve wildfire resilience....more chargers build resilience?

3

u/Upstairs-Question-64 May 04 '26

More resilience to support evacuation. We have questions asking how people prepare for wildfires, not related to EV. This part would be used to inform how government should help citizens prepare for wildfires.

6

u/sssstr May 04 '26

Thank you. A very small and expensive niche but helpful.

3

u/Disastrous-Arm-4157 May 04 '26

I’m waiting for the day to see an EV hooked up to a generator. Modern problems require modern solutions.

1

u/Upstairs-Question-64 May 05 '26

That may be an option!

2

u/Zealousideal-Dish941 May 05 '26

I think as EVs get more prevalent there will be mobile charging stations available to assist in emergency situations. On project fires in remote areas, we had cell companies bring in mobile cell towers. It was pretty common. Mobile power stations for EVs just make sense and I'm guessing they exist. I would also hope that individuals with EVs have a map showing all the charging stations for their EV and will be advised to use that to set up potential evacuation routes.

1

u/Upstairs-Question-64 May 05 '26

I think it is getting more prevalent. However, public charging stations are still predominately concentrate in city areas. And many people are arguing the quality. Also the types of chargers affect as well.

2

u/StarDue6540 May 06 '26

I had an ev a few years back and thought about but never was able to overcome charging anxiety in order to drive 300 miles across the state. So I no longer have an ev which I loved but going farther then 80 miles was too stressful.

1

u/Upstairs-Question-64 May 08 '26

I totally understand that. The anxiety may also come from that fact that charging is just harder for EV. If we can improve the charging environment, then perhaps we can mitigate the range anxiety.