Who would have thought that batteries and outdoor charging stations would have such a tough time in an area that typically gets pretty cold in the winter (via Dana Pico)
Tesla supercharging station packed in Oak Brook, dead cars line parking lot due to frigid temps https://t.co/ETz8aEQMxK
— FOX 29 (@FOX29philly) January 16, 2024
From the link
Electric vehicles may be the way of the future, but many EV owners are having trouble dealing with Chicago’s bitterly cold temperatures.
Public charging stations have turned into car graveyards over the past couple of days.
“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.”
Beard was among the dozens of Tesla owners trying desperately to power up their cars at the Tesla supercharging station in Oak Brook. It was a scene mirrored with long lines and abandoned cars at scores of other charging stations around the Chicago area.
“This is crazy. It’s a disaster. Seriously,” said Tesla owner Chalis Mizelle.
I suspect this occurred with many other EVs, not just Teslas. But, hey there is a solution
“Like any new technology, there’s a learning curve for people,” said Mark Bilek of the Chicago Auto Trade Association.
Bilek said all EVs can have problems dealing with extreme cold, and drivers need to hit their preconditioning button before they charge their battery.
“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 Bilek.
Well, OK. When it’s cold, especially when there’s ice on my windshield (the river is very close behind mi casa, so, get it bad), I will remote start my Civic, let it run for 5 minutes or so
(Tesla) Tesla recommends activating climate settings at least 30-45 minutes before departure (see Operating Climate Controls). Preconditioning times depend on outside temperature and other factors. The mobile app will notify you once your vehicle has reached the desired preconditioning temperature.
That time is for moderate weather. Not when the high is predicted to be 4F. I can jump in my fossil fueled vehicle and be on my way quickly. After scraping the windshield, of course.
Heaven forfend! Our esteemed host wrote:
So, you are admitting to killing Mother Gaia by spewing five unnecessary minutes of greenhouse gases rather than employing muscle power to scrape the ice off your windshield? For your penance, make a good Act of Contrition, and recite ten rosaries.
In Latin.
Before I retired, I would start my truck and engage the defroster, and, while it was defrosting, I’d scrape the frost/ice from Mrs Pico’s car’s windshield. By the time I had completed that task and returned to my truck, its windshield was usually completely cleared. Yes, that means that I had burned extra fuel, but it also meant that my darling bride didn’t have to do so herself.
I suppose that, if you also have a heated garage and a 220-volt charger at home, you’ll be OK in your Chevy Dolt. Still, it has to be asked: how do those people who don’t have these things at home manage with their plug-in electric vehicles?
How ’bout getting the hell out of the way, quit interfering, and let the earth warm up so there won’t be any more frozen battery problems.
Still an expensive toy.
https://the-pipeline.org/electric-vehicles-running-on-empty/
Bwaha! Lolgf
The obvious solution is for all public charging stations to be indoors and heated. And the extra hour it takes to warm up the car battery is just the price they pay for saving the planet. The other people waiting in line will be very pleased to wait half a day for their turn to go into the warming shed. After all, they are saving everyone. For what it’s worth, lots of cars have trouble in the winter. Diesel engines starts to gel at low temperatures and it takes a whole 35 seconds to add fuel additive to the tank. Many northern states have block heaters installed in vehicles to keep them warm overnight. In Alaska, most parking lots have places to plug in your block heaters while you park. In North Dakota, people often don’t turn off the engines on their cars while they go inside and shop. Of course, those are high trust societies where people don’t steal cars from each other.
Our mixers had block heaters that we were able to plug into 110 power overnight. One boss noted the increased electric usage and combitched about it, but I pointed out that every truck that wouldn’t start in the winter was two men, on the clock, for about 30 minutes each trying to jump start a mixer.
You can use ether — starting fluid — sprayed into the breather on the engine — to help a diesel start when it’s cold, but that, too, takes a second man, one trying to start it, and another spraying the ether into the breather. And that stuff really isn’t great for engines.
Yes, large diesels can be a challenge to start in cold weather. Been there, done that. One of my faves was the heavy equipment that used a pony motor that shared coolant with the main diesel. The petrol pony was usually easy to start, then you let it run until the main had some temp and then engage the start clutch.
People seem to be unaware that batteries lose capacity as they are chilled and capacity equals range. Diesel and petrol don’t lose any energy in cold weather. Anti-icing or anti-gel additives may be needed, but the BTU content is relatively constant.
You knew they were trouble when stories about driving ev in the cold talked about 32 degrees. It was 66 degrees colder than that here Saturday. Nothing I’ve ever read addresses those temperatures. That alone earns a hard pass.
When power go ors down the boys will also have to wait for the electric powered gas pumps to come back as well as the payment process
80% of Tesla owners charge at home. They might also be able to lower their homes with their Tesla until the power comes back on
There are well over 1 million Tesla’s on the roads
Probably 40000 in Chicago
Dozens are having problems
Dana, can you tell us what possible problems has or diesel engines might have when the temps drop below zero and they are garaged outside ?
According to something I read on the Internet today there’s something like 500,000 EV’s dead in the snow. Thousands on the roads 10s of thousands in the garages and some dealers have entire lots of EV’s they can’t even start. So don’t tell us about how many dozens are having problems that’s a propaganda lie. Hell we only have two people in my neighborhood that only EV’s and both of them are dead. That’s 100% right there.
I wonder how many go carts are out there, same concept, novelty vehicle.
H
How’s your EV?? Charging okay?? Have plenty of electricity?? Well, if you live in Memphis….
“Tuesday, MLGW may issue an energy conservation alert, which will help prevent the rolling blackouts and boil water notices experienced last year. They asked customers to not use large electric appliances, turn off electric space heaters
and don’t plug in electric vehicles.”
H
When power go ors down the boys will also have to wait for the electric powered gas pumps to come back as well as the payment process
Many service stations, especially truck stops, have generators.
H, quit lying to yourself. The infrastructure is not there for EV’s.
H, why is it that both you and Elwood are constantly raving about EV’s and neither one of you will buy one? Are you hypocrites or just liars? I think you’re liars but that’s just an opinion. Of course it is opinion based on previous observations. But anything you say about EV’s is worthless since you don’t believe in them cause you don’t buy one. And everything you know about EV’s is by Googling not experience.
Now my father has returned his Mercedes EV to the dealer after it started a fire in his garage. Let me be blunt it didn’t burst into flames it just laid there and smoked for two hours. My father and his Gardner and next door neighbor pushed it out into the street. That way it didn’t stink up the whole house. He still doesn’t know what’s gonna happen he doesn’t know if it’s covered by insurance or if it’s covered by warranty. My father does not want it back. I told the old man to buy the new Rolls Royce but he’s not gonna do that he likes German cars. I do know it’s not gonna be an EV whether it’s German English or anything else.