As freezing temperatures brought life to a standstill in much of the Midwest, the effect on electric cars added a brutal reality check to climate advocates.
“Public charging stations have turned into car graveyards over the past couple of days,” Fox 32 in Chicago reported on Monday, noting how “dozens” of Tesla owners were “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,” the outlet added.
Desperate car owners were left scrambling for alternative means of transportation amid the arctic blast that descended on Chicago and other areas. With wind chill temperatures of 20-to-30 degrees below zero going into Monday, the NBC 5 Storm Team noted that even Alaska was “forecasted to be 30 degrees warmer” than Chicago.
The situation spawned a crisis for electric vehicle owners.
“Nothing. No juice. Still on zero percent,” Tyler Beard told Fox Chicago. “And this is like three hours being out here after being out here three hours yesterday.”
Beard had reportedly been trying since Sunday afternoon to recharge his Tesla at an Oak Brook Tesla supercharging station, and he was not alone.
“This is crazy. It’s a disaster. Seriously,” Chalis Mizelle, another Tesla owner, told the news outlet which reported that Mizelle was “forced to abandon her car and get a ride from a friend when it wouldn’t charge.”
“We got a bunch of dead robots out here,” another man quipped of the many abandoned cars at “scores of other charging stations around the Chicago area.”
Kevin Sumrak found his Tesla dead on arrival after he landed at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport on Sunday night. He ended up paying for a tow truck to get his vehicle to a charging station that worked.
Tesla driver Wes France was also forced to get a tow truck after draining his car’s better in search of a charging station that worked.
“I saw my battery was getting low 20 to 25%. Went to the gas station there was a long line,” France told WGN-TV. And a drive to the Rosemont charging station proved fruitless as it was out of service.
“By that time my battery drained down to 5%, which is faster than normal,” the driver said. “Long story short here I am. We had to tow it out this way.”
“It’s horrible it takes two hours the wait an hour it takes two hours to charge, then the charge leaves really quickly, so now you’re back at the charger twice a day,” Darryl Johnson, an Uber driver, told WGN-TV.
Johnson also urged Tesla to do something about improving the battery life of electric vehicles.
“I think it’s a matter of time. They definitely have to work on it because I’m out of this Tesla after today. I’m not going to ride it again,” he said.
One expert explained to Fox 32 Chicago how batteries in EVs are affected by cold temperatures.
“Like any new technology, there’s a learning curve for people,” Mark Bilek of the Chicago Auto Trade Association, told Fox 32 Chicago, which noted that Tesla did not respond to the outlet’s requests for comment.
“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,” Bilek explained.
Social media was filled with similar stories and plenty of commentary about the push by climate advocates to get everyone using EVs.
I have a Tesla rental and it’s a joke. Drove 93 miles and the battery went from 80% down to 16%. not cheap to charge. One charge is more than a tank of gas for a car. Couldn’t even turn heat on in Chicago because the battery drained so fast. Takes over 45 min to charge pic.twitter.com/uWi1H451gm
— Marzipan (@soul_sovereign) January 11, 2024
@Tesla Chicago weather ate my battery . I got out with 40 miles and after 5 mile battery went to 0.
Went to Tesla super charger and half of the station went dead and long queue on the other pic.twitter.com/ibdn3O17Rc— دی بابا امریکی (@FollowSunnah) January 15, 2024
Y’all got problems with your Tesla’s here in Chicago, not enough chargers here and when it’s cold you do not cover them to keep them from freezing so thousands of Tesla battery’s die and people are stranded in negative degree temperatures! #GetItTogetherTesla
— With Love Comes Peace, Respectfully! (@truthxallah) January 16, 2024
Teslas in Chicago were stranded with 30+ minute supercharger waits, supercharging not working, running out of battery rapidly, getting stuck on the highway because the onboard computer didn’t know range
Tesla has serious winter problem -30Fhttps://t.co/Z8AhoZ3ZiN
— IDKFA (@IDKFA3) January 16, 2024
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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida. Powers also contributes to BizPac Review.
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