The extreme cold wave that hit Chicago transformed the Tesla cars and many other EVs into “a bunch of dead robots.” Dozens of vehicles lined up at charging stations in subzero temperatures. With the batteries completely drained, most of them arrived there with the help of tow trucks.
Thermometers have been showing temperatures as low as 2 degrees Fahrenheit (-19 degrees Celsius) in the Chicago area, with a real feel of -20F (-29C). Such weather is a harsh foe for electric cars, regardless of the badge they were or the price the owners paid for them. The brutal cold converted many of them into a bunch of dead machines. The frost has a serious impact on range and charging speeds.
The cold wave turned the charging stations into car graveyards over the past couple of days. People push their vehicles around to get them plugged in. “They are a bunch of dead robots,” a Tesla owner said for Fox 32 Chicago, seeing others just like him, desperately trying to power up their cars.
Fox reported on dozens of Tesla vehicles lined up at a Supercharger station in a Chicago suburb, most of them stuck with no power and unable to charge. The owners claim that their vehicles would not charge once they are plugged in. That is why many cars ended up on flatbed trucks, on their way to the local Tesla service center. “It’s a disaster!” a Tesla owner complains.
The Tesla App shows most superchargers marked as functional, but with very long waiting times. Drivers end up waiting for a whole day to get to plug their cars. That is because the charging speed in such cold weather can grow significantly. An EV owner said he kept his car plugged in for three whole hours, even though high-speed charging should have only taken about 45 minutes.
There are people suggesting that the owners of the cars are now unable to charge due to failing to precondition their batteries before charging.
“It’s not plug and go. You have to precondition the battery, meaning that you have to get the battery up to the optimal temperature to accept a fast charge,” said Mark Bilek of the Chicago Auto Trade Association for Fox 32 Chicago.
That is, indeed, something that the carmaker recommends, especially in cold weather. But the car does this automatically once the driver enters a Supercharger station in the car’s navigation system. On the other hand, sitting for three hours at the charging station with the battery empty makes preconditioning impossible.
It might be that the Superchargers themselves are failing due to the very low temperatures brought in the region, leaving Tesla owners stranded out there with no possibility to charge their cars. Many of them have reached out to the carmaker asking for help but received no answer.
Tesla’s support website recommends keeping the battery level above 20% when not plugged in. This should reduce the impact of the bitter cold on the battery. With the arctic blast that hit the region, reaching 20% would really be a joy for most EV owners who abandoned their cars at the charging station and went home by taxi only to return in the morning and try to charge again. The weather forecast has some ver bad news for them for the upcoming three days.