Tesla drivers in the Chicago area waited hours in the freezing cold to charge their cars, with some having to have their cars towed after their batteries died. Other drivers were directed to charging stations that were completely unusable.
Electric cars were lined up at charging stations in Evergreen Park, Illinois, but some stations were not operating and some were taking more than twice as long to charge.
“I've been here for over five hours at this point and I still haven't been able to charge my car,” the Tesla driver said. CBS News. “Charging, which should have taken 45 minutes, is now taking two hours.”
The same driver said he witnessed at least 10 cars being towed from the parking lot.
ABC 7 Chicago's Diane Pashu reported from another Chicago-area Tesla charging station in Oak Brook, Illinois. About 20 Teslas were killed and stranded at the station when their chargers failed.
“I talked to the driver in Oak Brook where we are, and he tried to get help from Tesla, but there was nothing,” Pachu said, presumably from inside the gas-powered car.
Tesla owner John Valdis said, “When I got here yesterday, there was just a line of cars, only a few charging or working, but it was very orderly. It was disorganized and no one seemed to know what to do.”
Valdis also explained that Tesla itself directed drivers to inoperable charging stations.
“A lot of people were just driven here. So they were left alone.”
tesla advised the owner Maintains battery charge level above 20% even in extremely cold weather.
Chicago hovered around 0 degrees Fahrenheit during the severe storm, with wind chills bringing the temperature down to -18 degrees.
tesla Support article It also advised drivers to “precondition” their batteries before charging in temperatures near freezing.
“The purpose of preconditioning is to bring your Tesla's battery up to the appropriate temperature before charging,” the website says. This process can take up to 30 minutes to charge and “consumes electricity to warm the battery without consuming current to charge it.”
Tesla also encouraged the use of a “chill mode,” which “moderately limits” vehicle acceleration to conserve energy.
Similarly, according to Tesla Model 3, instruction manual onlinein cold temperatures “the charging port latch can freeze in place”.
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