Tesla supercharging station packed in Oak Brook, dead cars line parking lot due to frigid temps
www.fox32chicago.com
Electric vehicles may be the way of the future, but many EV owners are having trouble dealing with Chicago’s bitterly cold temperatures.

"Nothing. No juice. Still on zero percent," said Tyler Beard, who has been trying to recharge his Tesla at an Oak Brook Tesla supercharging station since Sunday afternoon. "And this is like three hours being out here after being out here three hours yesterday."

"Like any new technology, there’s a learning curve for people," said Mark Bilek of the Chicago Auto Trade Association.

Lmao, no my dudes, it's pretty well understood that you need to keep the battery warm enough to be able to charge. This is not some fucking unexplored field of science!

I'm absolutely cackling at the radio silence from Tesla + dozens of Tesla owners just sitting around cluelessly wondering why their car hasn't charged at all in over 3 hours. Maybe another 3 hours will do it, keep trying stalin-approval

Also, a cursory Google search leads me to believe that the Model 3 has no dedicated battery warmer that could be used for this very situation, but instead some system that "runs the motor inefficiently to heat up the battery". Doesn't sound like this can work when the car is stationary, I guess tesla engineers forgot about the Midwest when cutting parts to save on production costs michael-laugh

  • KoboldKomrade [he/him]
    ·
    11 months ago

    I have a chevy volt. Its a (weird) hybrid so slightly different (I think it runs the engine, but it CAN run it standing still. When it needs heat, plugged in it hums differently then unplugged.) Even though its like 8 years old at this point, even it knows to run to keep itself warm. It 100% has to be either cheapness, lazy design, or unwillingness to cut range in winter. But I mean... I can still drive just fine and it was near 0F last night lol.

    • Sinistar
      ·
      11 months ago

      I've got a Volt too, great car, built like a tank in that the battery sacrifices max range for lifespan.

      • Assian_Candor [comrade/them]
        ·
        11 months ago

        Ive owned mine for 5 years now and have done zero maintenance on it aside from 2 oil changes and replacing one battery cell at a cost of $2k. I’ve driven it 50k miles in that time. I just took it in to get looked at because it’s been a while, they topped off the fluids and said it’s in great shape. Amazing car. Uncomfortable as hell but great car.

    • Bnova [he/him]
      ·
      11 months ago

      I had a Prius prime, which is the Toyota equivalent. I loved that car electric for local and hybrid for distance is awesome.