Remember how the politicians want to ban gas cars? Yeah ...
"Car graveyards," they're calling these charging stations. It was ten below zero, and the things were so frozen they wouldn't charge.
Desperate Tesla owners in and around Chicago were seen trying to charge their vehicles with no luck amid frigid temperatures that have gripped the Midwest.
Charging stations have essentially turned into car graveyards in recent days as temperatures have dropped to the negative double digits, Fox Chicago reported …
One expert told the news outlet that cold weather can impact the ability of electric vehicles to charge properly.
"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.
This was happening at Tesla charging stations all across Chicago. "Dead Teslas packed the parking lot" at the Oak Brook charging station according to the local news, and there's video below to prove just how packed that parking lot was.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not singling out Tesla or shaming EV drivers. There's a place for it. That Cybertruck? A beauty. Tesla's Gigafactories? Revolutionary. So don't think I'm just a curmudgeonly old man who can't get with the times.
I'm not blasting any of you EV drivers for your choice in vehicle - I'm concerned about the fact that the dweebs meeting in Davos this week want to make EVs the only option, instead of letting innovation and personal freedom naturally move us into the future.
If my car isn't starting during the literal one week out of the year where my life depends on it starting, I'm getting a new car that runs on fossil fuel.
Interesting note here from Tesla:
By using Trip Planner (if available in your market region) to navigate to a Tesla charging location, Model S pre-heats the high voltage Battery to ensure when you arrive at the charger, the temperature of the Battery is optimal and ready to charge. This reduces the amount of time it takes to charge. See (see Trip Planner).
Note
Tesla recommends using Trip Planner to navigate to a charging location for at least 30-45 minutes before arrival to ensure optimal Battery temperature and charging conditions. If the drive to the charging location is less than 30-45 minutes, consider preconditioning the Battery before driving.
That's great if you want to do it and have the time to do it.
But if you've got, say, little kids and you're wondering if your battery will die and you'll freeze to death in a ditch on the way to grandma's house?
Yeah, the gas-guzzling SUV is gonna get my vote.
P.S. Now check out our latest video 👇
