Electric Vehicle Quirks

Writing my last blog on winter on the ramp, I mentioned that electric vehicles don’t have the same vulnerability to cold as gas-powered vehicles.  Sure enough, an astute reader pointed out that these vehicles have their own winter idiosyncrasies.  And, of course, he’s right.  While they may not have the same winter problems, they do have problems caused by the weather, including – as he pointed out – charger cables cut by snow plows. His comment made me think about my own experiences with electric vehicles.  When I was working on the ramp, electric vehicles were confined to small service vehicles, such as potable water vehicles – which we used to refer to as water buffaloes.   The problems we had with them in winter included the contacts becoming corroded from the chemicals used to deice the ramp.  The same chemicals that were supposedly not corrosive to aircraft proved to be corrosive to some of the copper contactors.   Other problems – to name a few - included water intrusion that froze and caused stuck accelerators, stuck forward and reverse linkages and stiff emergency brakes.  I haven’t seen these vehicles on ramps anymore, but they were similar to the electric carts that are ubiquitous on golf courses across the country. So, I’m curious as to the feedback on the electric vehicles used on airports today.  I still believe that they are the future –   but it would be interesting  to hear the kinds of experiences that you’ve had, especially in winter operations.