Guest Essay by Eric Worrall
Editor’s Note: This is a brief guest essay covering the recent stranding of Tesla models and other electric vehicles due to a recent cold snap in the Chicagoland area, creating a “Tesla Graveyard.” Climate Realism has pointed out that electric vehicles, and apparently their charging infrastructure, struggle in very cold conditions, here and here.
h/t MGUY; “We got a bunch of dead robots out here”: Drivers are complaining Tesla is not responding to complaints, despite being stuck for days in the Chicago Supercharger “Tesla Graveyard”.
The problem appears to be the Teslas are not charging, even when they are connected to a working charger.
Fox claims an automobile expert advised drivers to hit the “battery precondition” button on the vehicle before attempting to charge in extreme cold, but surely even if the driver forgets, the battery manager would sense the cold, and optimise the battery temperature without human intervention when plugged in?
Here is WGN’s take on the Chicago Tesla disaster;
There could be more pain to come for the Chicago Tesla drivers. Prolonged exposure to severe frost conditions can permanently wreck the battery, and some of those bricked Tesla drivers have been stuck in the cold for days.
Will Tesla customer service start responding to distressed Chicago drivers? I hope so – but in 2021, a Finnish Tesla owner became so fed up with Tesla customer service, after his battery was permanently wrecked by severe cold, he strapped 30Kg of Dynamite to the Tesla, and filmed a rather spectacular negative product review.
Note we at WUWT do not recommend blowing up your Tesla, regardless of the quality of Tesla customer service you receive. Explosives should only be handled by trained professionals, and Teslas contain large quantities of toxic chemicals. The Finnish Tesla owner in the video above responsibly removed the most toxic component, the battery, before detonating his Tesla.
Originally posted at WattsUpWithThat.com, reposted with permission.
Tesla ice cube cars are just draining the power out of these EV’s! Not only having to charge in bitter cold and getting towed to a charging station! These cars are not ready for prime time! I think ICE cars are going to in high demand in the tundra states!