EVs (Teslas) DOA in cold weather

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/dead-teslas-oak-brook

We are thinking of getting an EV but this gives me pause given today's temp. I think I'm leaning towards a hybrid.

DC area doesn't get as cold as Chicago, but has anyone with an EV had issues charging their cars today?

I live in Utah at 8000 feet and it’s cold. More cold days than Chicago and definitely way more snow. No problem charging our Tesla here in the past 4 years. Precondition (heat) battery before charging. We have driven it to snowbird, Alta, Jackson hole, sun valley, etc when the temps were frigid. No issues. The Chicago story sounds frustrating for sure, but I’m not sure why the cars died, unless they showed up to the charger with 0% battery and had no power to precondition. If you navigate to a charger, your car knows that it will charge soon and will automatically start conditioning the battery for fast charge. Just like you don’t wait until the gas tank is empty before heading to the gas station, you shouldn’t wait until the battery is dead before heading to a charger. People have teslas in Finland and park them outside in arctic conditions without an issue, as long as they don’t let the charge drop too low.

Does that mean you always have to be aware of the weather forecast to make sure your battery is preconditioned?

No, when I navigate to a charger, the car automatically pre conditions. Even when it’s not cold, the battery will precondition to increase charging efficiency. And this is only when I’m on a road trip and use superchargers. Otherwise, I charge at home and at free chargers, no preconditioning necessary.

Today, I skied the morning after dropping kids off at school and left the car outside in the snow. Before my last run, I used the app to heat the interior and defrost. It had snowed about 4 inches and I arrived to a warm toasty car with a clear windshield and rear window while everyone else had to brush all the snow off. So nice.

My every day gas car has an app that allows me to start the car and warm it up too. Amazing!

Amazing! But spewing carbon monoxide while you heat your car is not so amazing.

Do you know where the power is coming from to charge 'dem batteries?

Most of the time the power to charge my car's batteries is coming from the solar panels on my roof.

Nuclear then. Solar power is nuclear power. This sun’s energy results from nuclear fusion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why are Tesla owners so nasty and smug?

They are the type of people everyone else avoids.

[Anonymous]

80% of all new cars sold in Norway are electric. That's way colder than here. If they work there, surely they can work in our milder climate.

https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/automotive-and-assembly/our-insights/what-norways-experience-reveals-about-the-ev-charging-market

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/dead-teslas-oak-brook

We are thinking of getting an EV but this gives me pause given today's temp. I think I'm leaning towards a hybrid.

DC area doesn't get as cold as Chicago, but has anyone with an EV had issues charging their cars today?

I live in Utah at 8000 feet and it’s cold. More cold days than Chicago and definitely way more snow. No problem charging our Tesla here in the past 4 years. Precondition (heat) battery before charging. We have driven it to snowbird, Alta, Jackson hole, sun valley, etc when the temps were frigid. No issues. The Chicago story sounds frustrating for sure, but I’m not sure why the cars died, unless they showed up to the charger with 0% battery and had no power to precondition. If you navigate to a charger, your car knows that it will charge soon and will automatically start conditioning the battery for fast charge. Just like you don’t wait until the gas tank is empty before heading to the gas station, you shouldn’t wait until the battery is dead before heading to a charger. People have teslas in Finland and park them outside in arctic conditions without an issue, as long as they don’t let the charge drop too low.

Does that mean you always have to be aware of the weather forecast to make sure your battery is preconditioned?

No, when I navigate to a charger, the car automatically pre conditions. Even when it’s not cold, the battery will precondition to increase charging efficiency. And this is only when I’m on a road trip and use superchargers. Otherwise, I charge at home and at free chargers, no preconditioning necessary.

Today, I skied the morning after dropping kids off at school and left the car outside in the snow. Before my last run, I used the app to heat the interior and defrost. It had snowed about 4 inches and I arrived to a warm toasty car with a clear windshield and rear window while everyone else had to brush all the snow off. So nice.

My every day gas car has an app that allows me to start the car and warm it up too. Amazing!

Amazing! But spewing carbon monoxide while you heat your car is not so amazing.

Do you know where the power is coming from to charge 'dem batteries?

Most of the time the power to charge my car's batteries is coming from the solar panels on my roof.

Nice acecdote. Most ev owners don’t use solar

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why are Tesla owners so nasty and smug?

Why are you so insulting and immature?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:EV owners + unable to sufficiently charge at home + lack of planning/awareness + dearth of public charging infrastructure = bad headlines.

If any of those elements don’t apply to you or your situation, you will be fine.

Imagine spending your days trolling DCUM to post hateful stuff about EVs
of all things.

I love my ID.4 and this morning I had zero trouble opening the door and driving downtown. The battery was 50% charged when I started.

What's hateful in the message you're replying to?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/dead-teslas-oak-brook

We are thinking of getting an EV but this gives me pause given today's temp. I think I'm leaning towards a hybrid.

DC area doesn't get as cold as Chicago, but has anyone with an EV had issues charging their cars today?

I live in Utah at 8000 feet and it’s cold. More cold days than Chicago and definitely way more snow. No problem charging our Tesla here in the past 4 years. Precondition (heat) battery before charging. We have driven it to snowbird, Alta, Jackson hole, sun valley, etc when the temps were frigid. No issues. The Chicago story sounds frustrating for sure, but I’m not sure why the cars died, unless they showed up to the charger with 0% battery and had no power to precondition. If you navigate to a charger, your car knows that it will charge soon and will automatically start conditioning the battery for fast charge. Just like you don’t wait until the gas tank is empty before heading to the gas station, you shouldn’t wait until the battery is dead before heading to a charger. People have teslas in Finland and park them outside in arctic conditions without an issue, as long as they don’t let the charge drop too low.

Does that mean you always have to be aware of the weather forecast to make sure your battery is preconditioned?

No, when I navigate to a charger, the car automatically pre conditions. Even when it’s not cold, the battery will precondition to increase charging efficiency. And this is only when I’m on a road trip and use superchargers. Otherwise, I charge at home and at free chargers, no preconditioning necessary.

Today, I skied the morning after dropping kids off at school and left the car outside in the snow. Before my last run, I used the app to heat the interior and defrost. It had snowed about 4 inches and I arrived to a warm toasty car with a clear windshield and rear window while everyone else had to brush all the snow off. So nice.

My every day gas car has an app that allows me to start the car and warm it up too. Amazing!

Amazing! But spewing carbon monoxide while you heat your car is not so amazing.

Do you know where the power is coming from to charge 'dem batteries?

Most of the time the power to charge my car's batteries is coming from the solar panels on my roof.

Nice acecdote. Most ev owners don’t use solar

True, but they're more likely than gas car owners to have solar (https://www.environmentenergyleader.com/2024/01/ev-drivers-more-likely-to-go-for-solar-panels-too/). And anyway, there has been an enormous amount of research, much of it previously linked on this board, showing that even with the current fossil fuel-powered electric grid, EVs account for lower net emissions than gas cars, even if you want to dismiss the experience of 1 in 4 EV owners as a "nice anecdote."

[Anonymous]

We’ve had an AWD Tesla for more than 5 years and this hasn’t been a problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/dead-teslas-oak-brook

We are thinking of getting an EV but this gives me pause given today's temp. I think I'm leaning towards a hybrid.

DC area doesn't get as cold as Chicago, but has anyone with an EV had issues charging their cars today?

I live in Utah at 8000 feet and it’s cold. More cold days than Chicago and definitely way more snow. No problem charging our Tesla here in the past 4 years. Precondition (heat) battery before charging. We have driven it to snowbird, Alta, Jackson hole, sun valley, etc when the temps were frigid. No issues. The Chicago story sounds frustrating for sure, but I’m not sure why the cars died, unless they showed up to the charger with 0% battery and had no power to precondition. If you navigate to a charger, your car knows that it will charge soon and will automatically start conditioning the battery for fast charge. Just like you don’t wait until the gas tank is empty before heading to the gas station, you shouldn’t wait until the battery is dead before heading to a charger. People have teslas in Finland and park them outside in arctic conditions without an issue, as long as they don’t let the charge drop too low.

Does that mean you always have to be aware of the weather forecast to make sure your battery is preconditioned?

No, when I navigate to a charger, the car automatically pre conditions. Even when it’s not cold, the battery will precondition to increase charging efficiency. And this is only when I’m on a road trip and use superchargers. Otherwise, I charge at home and at free chargers, no preconditioning necessary.

Today, I skied the morning after dropping kids off at school and left the car outside in the snow. Before my last run, I used the app to heat the interior and defrost. It had snowed about 4 inches and I arrived to a warm toasty car with a clear windshield and rear window while everyone else had to brush all the snow off. So nice.

My every day gas car has an app that allows me to start the car and warm it up too. Amazing!

Good for you! I can heat my EV in the garage with door closed without the risk of inhaling toxic fumes from the exhaust pipe. Bonus for me, it's about 3 steps from my back door to my warm garage.

No toxic fumes but you run the risk of burning down your whole house. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/dead-teslas-oak-brook

We are thinking of getting an EV but this gives me pause given today's temp. I think I'm leaning towards a hybrid.

DC area doesn't get as cold as Chicago, but has anyone with an EV had issues charging their cars today?

I live in Utah at 8000 feet and it’s cold. More cold days than Chicago and definitely way more snow. No problem charging our Tesla here in the past 4 years. Precondition (heat) battery before charging. We have driven it to snowbird, Alta, Jackson hole, sun valley, etc when the temps were frigid. No issues. The Chicago story sounds frustrating for sure, but I’m not sure why the cars died, unless they showed up to the charger with 0% battery and had no power to precondition. If you navigate to a charger, your car knows that it will charge soon and will automatically start conditioning the battery for fast charge. Just like you don’t wait until the gas tank is empty before heading to the gas station, you shouldn’t wait until the battery is dead before heading to a charger. People have teslas in Finland and park them outside in arctic conditions without an issue, as long as they don’t let the charge drop too low.

Does that mean you always have to be aware of the weather forecast to make sure your battery is preconditioned?

No, when I navigate to a charger, the car automatically pre conditions. Even when it’s not cold, the battery will precondition to increase charging efficiency. And this is only when I’m on a road trip and use superchargers. Otherwise, I charge at home and at free chargers, no preconditioning necessary.

Today, I skied the morning after dropping kids off at school and left the car outside in the snow. Before my last run, I used the app to heat the interior and defrost. It had snowed about 4 inches and I arrived to a warm toasty car with a clear windshield and rear window while everyone else had to brush all the snow off. So nice.

My every day gas car has an app that allows me to start the car and warm it up too. Amazing!

Amazing! But spewing carbon monoxide while you heat your car is not so amazing.

Do you know where the power is coming from to charge 'dem batteries?

Most of the time the power to charge my car's batteries is coming from the solar panels on my roof.

Nice acecdote. Most ev owners don’t use solar

DP, but i gets brought up in every thread and the science shows that EVs are still better energy wise even when accounting for charging. Unless you live in the tiny handful of places that still use coal, they are the better choice re; energy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/dead-teslas-oak-brook

We are thinking of getting an EV but this gives me pause given today's temp. I think I'm leaning towards a hybrid.

DC area doesn't get as cold as Chicago, but has anyone with an EV had issues charging their cars today?

I live in Utah at 8000 feet and it’s cold. More cold days than Chicago and definitely way more snow. No problem charging our Tesla here in the past 4 years. Precondition (heat) battery before charging. We have driven it to snowbird, Alta, Jackson hole, sun valley, etc when the temps were frigid. No issues. The Chicago story sounds frustrating for sure, but I’m not sure why the cars died, unless they showed up to the charger with 0% battery and had no power to precondition. If you navigate to a charger, your car knows that it will charge soon and will automatically start conditioning the battery for fast charge. Just like you don’t wait until the gas tank is empty before heading to the gas station, you shouldn’t wait until the battery is dead before heading to a charger. People have teslas in Finland and park them outside in arctic conditions without an issue, as long as they don’t let the charge drop too low.

Does that mean you always have to be aware of the weather forecast to make sure your battery is preconditioned?

No, when I navigate to a charger, the car automatically pre conditions. Even when it’s not cold, the battery will precondition to increase charging efficiency. And this is only when I’m on a road trip and use superchargers. Otherwise, I charge at home and at free chargers, no preconditioning necessary.

Today, I skied the morning after dropping kids off at school and left the car outside in the snow. Before my last run, I used the app to heat the interior and defrost. It had snowed about 4 inches and I arrived to a warm toasty car with a clear windshield and rear window while everyone else had to brush all the snow off. So nice.

My every day gas car has an app that allows me to start the car and warm it up too. Amazing!

Good for you! I can heat my EV in the garage with door closed without the risk of inhaling toxic fumes from the exhaust pipe. Bonus for me, it's about 3 steps from my back door to my warm garage.

No toxic fumes but you run the risk of burning down your whole house. Good luck!

Wrong again. https://www.motortrend.com/features/you-are-wrong-about-ev-fires/
"But if electric vehicles are no more likely to catch fire than any other car on the road, the headline frequency can be misleading. In fact, the data says they account for a tiny fraction of all car fires."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/dead-teslas-oak-brook

We are thinking of getting an EV but this gives me pause given today's temp. I think I'm leaning towards a hybrid.

DC area doesn't get as cold as Chicago, but has anyone with an EV had issues charging their cars today?

I live in Utah at 8000 feet and it’s cold. More cold days than Chicago and definitely way more snow. No problem charging our Tesla here in the past 4 years. Precondition (heat) battery before charging. We have driven it to snowbird, Alta, Jackson hole, sun valley, etc when the temps were frigid. No issues. The Chicago story sounds frustrating for sure, but I’m not sure why the cars died, unless they showed up to the charger with 0% battery and had no power to precondition. If you navigate to a charger, your car knows that it will charge soon and will automatically start conditioning the battery for fast charge. Just like you don’t wait until the gas tank is empty before heading to the gas station, you shouldn’t wait until the battery is dead before heading to a charger. People have teslas in Finland and park them outside in arctic conditions without an issue, as long as they don’t let the charge drop too low.

Does that mean you always have to be aware of the weather forecast to make sure your battery is preconditioned?

No, when I navigate to a charger, the car automatically pre conditions. Even when it’s not cold, the battery will precondition to increase charging efficiency. And this is only when I’m on a road trip and use superchargers. Otherwise, I charge at home and at free chargers, no preconditioning necessary.

Today, I skied the morning after dropping kids off at school and left the car outside in the snow. Before my last run, I used the app to heat the interior and defrost. It had snowed about 4 inches and I arrived to a warm toasty car with a clear windshield and rear window while everyone else had to brush all the snow off. So nice.

My every day gas car has an app that allows me to start the car and warm it up too. Amazing!

Good for you! I can heat my EV in the garage with door closed without the risk of inhaling toxic fumes from the exhaust pipe. Bonus for me, it's about 3 steps from my back door to my warm garage.

No toxic fumes but you run the risk of burning down your whole house. Good luck!

OK, Trump voter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why are Tesla owners so nasty and smug?

What is smug and nasty about saying that ev’s don’t create emissions, can be powered by home solar panels (that’s our situation), and can be heated and cooled without running an ICE engine? Also, we have dog mode, so our old girl can snooze in comfort and safety in any type of weather in the car. The bus system in my town is about 40% electric and plans to be 80% in the next 5-10 years. By 2025, 100% of new cars sold in Norway will be fully emission free. China will be 40% EV in 6 years. And if you are about to reply, “we live in the us, not Norway or china”, then ok, we have different perceptions about global economics and security.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/dead-teslas-oak-brook

We are thinking of getting an EV but this gives me pause given today's temp. I think I'm leaning towards a hybrid.

DC area doesn't get as cold as Chicago, but has anyone with an EV had issues charging their cars today?

I live in Utah at 8000 feet and it’s cold. More cold days than Chicago and definitely way more snow. No problem charging our Tesla here in the past 4 years. Precondition (heat) battery before charging. We have driven it to snowbird, Alta, Jackson hole, sun valley, etc when the temps were frigid. No issues. The Chicago story sounds frustrating for sure, but I’m not sure why the cars died, unless they showed up to the charger with 0% battery and had no power to precondition. If you navigate to a charger, your car knows that it will charge soon and will automatically start conditioning the battery for fast charge. Just like you don’t wait until the gas tank is empty before heading to the gas station, you shouldn’t wait until the battery is dead before heading to a charger. People have teslas in Finland and park them outside in arctic conditions without an issue, as long as they don’t let the charge drop too low.

Does that mean you always have to be aware of the weather forecast to make sure your battery is preconditioned?

No, when I navigate to a charger, the car automatically pre conditions. Even when it’s not cold, the battery will precondition to increase charging efficiency. And this is only when I’m on a road trip and use superchargers. Otherwise, I charge at home and at free chargers, no preconditioning necessary.

Today, I skied the morning after dropping kids off at school and left the car outside in the snow. Before my last run, I used the app to heat the interior and defrost. It had snowed about 4 inches and I arrived to a warm toasty car with a clear windshield and rear window while everyone else had to brush all the snow off. So nice.

My every day gas car has an app that allows me to start the car and warm it up too. Amazing!

Amazing! But spewing carbon monoxide while you heat your car is not so amazing.

Do you know where the power is coming from to charge 'dem batteries?

Most of the time the power to charge my car's batteries is coming from the solar panels on my roof.

Nice acecdote. Most ev owners don’t use solar

Yes many people with ev’s live in apartments or rentals or they don’t want/can’t afford solar. But hopefully they will change soon. We have solar and power 2 teslas. We have a $30-40/month electricity bill that covers heating, cooling, and powering two cars that, together, get 35k miles a year. The gas cost alone would have cost us $5-6k. Instead we pay less than $500 to power the cars and our house. The math makes sense, and drastically reduces our carbon footprint since we live in a state that still uses coal and natural gas for nearly 80% of their electricity. It was an investment to get the solar panels and teslas, but we are definitely reaping the rewards now.

[Anonymous]

Here’s an article saying it may not have been the cars, just the chargers that were having problems, and that Norway has found gas cars are twice as likely to fail in the cold

https://electrek.co/2024/01/17/electric-vehicles-fail-lower-rate-than-gas-cars-extreme-cold/