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EV’s stuck for days unable to charge in frozen Chicago : “A bunch of dead robots”

Posted by freedomforall 3 months, 2 weeks ago to Government
69 comments | Share | Flag

How many times do we have to warn the EV morons about obvious reality?
Excerpt:
"“Plugged in and not charging”
In the deep freeze this week, people all over Canada and the USA are finding out how complicated it is to own an EV in cold weather.

Not only do the cars lose a hefty 30 to 50% of their range, but the battery itself can’t accept charge if it gets too cold, so EV’s need to precondition their batteries before they can start to charge. (To precondition is EV-jargon for “warming them up”.) However, there is a point, as temperatures fall, where batteries cannot even heat themselves enough so they can start charging. They have to drain the battery to charge the battery. It’s a death-spiral towards a frozen singularity.

How cold is too cold? The ideal temperature for charging an EV is 15 – 35°C (or 60-95 F) so some advise preconditioning the battery when it’s below 15C. But the charging speed declines as the chemical reactions slow down, and it reaches nothing at about 0°C (32F). So if the car is minus five, the battery won’t even accept a charge.

At the supercharging station in Oak Brook Chicago, people have been trying for days to charge their EVs, which are stuck immobile at the charging station while the queues grow. People without a home charger are rather screwed:

“Dead cars line parking lot due to frigid temps”
Dane Placko, Fox News

“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.

So not only do we “need” a lot more superchargers, and a bigger grid, and more electricity, but we probably need to enclose and heat those garages as well, and maybe put in some hotel rooms and office space for people to do something while they wait…

Just read the dramas of one poor EV driver who “forgot to plug the car in at -39°C one night.

The battery was at 28% but when he woke up the battery was 0% with warnings that the vehicle was shutting down. He tried to run to the house to grab the charger, but it was too late. When he returned — everything was dead to the point he couldn’t charge it. He rang the Tesla helpline and they sent someone out to jump start the 12V battery. But charging still didn’t work.

He pleaded for advice: “right now passenger side window is half down and stuck, both batteries are dead. I can’t charge main battery until I can charge 12V I guess. I bought 12V charger from Home Depot. Even this thing not charging 12V. I did some research and found out that this battery charger can’t charge a dead battery. Nearest Tesla station is Edmonton and I’m Grande Praire. Towing cost will be more than 500. I bought Tesla December 22. Any thoughts or suggestions…”

Maybe he can run an electric blanket out from the house and warm up the battery?"
----------------------------------------------
Stupid moron.
SOURCE URL: https://joannenova.com.au/2024/01/evs-stuck-for-days-unable-to-charge-in-frozen-chicago-a-bunch-of-dead-robots/


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  • Posted by $ AJAshinoff 3 months, 2 weeks ago
    Some folks can’t learn without experiencing something. Next lesson, being stuck with years of a car payment because others see the pitfalls of EVs more clearly.
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    • Posted by $ rainman0720 3 months, 2 weeks ago
      I would respectfully disagree with any lesson being learned by these idiots not being able to charge their EVs. It's always someone else's fault, and if they can't find any specific targets, they'll blame Global Warmi...er, Climate Change. (Although, I have yet to make sense of the arguement that the cold spells are worse because the earth is warming...).

      It's never their fault, and it never will be. Nothing will ever be learned.
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    • Posted by term2 3 months, 2 weeks ago
      I have to say that it was sort of obvious years ago that EV technology just wasn't there yet. I had no interest in spending $60k in the face to the obvious problems. If the price of gas went too high, maybe I plan my life so I don't need to drive so much, but to junk my ICE car for EV? No way
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  • Posted by Aeronca 3 months, 2 weeks ago
    I guess people need to be frozen in order to wake them up? I guess not. During the Texas power outage some blamed the natural gas some blamed the nuclear some blamed the windmills. Everyone freezes to death the same way. Seems to me we ought to keep all of our energy sources! Pharma companies always have 3 suppliers for every reagent. So when a plandemic happens their supply chains don't get interrupted.
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  • Posted by bfreeman 3 months, 2 weeks ago
    Perhaps global warming is not so bad after all?

    As fir "renewables", it takes more energy to make them than one ever gets back. Probably not "sustainable" either.
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    • Posted by term2 3 months, 2 weeks ago
      leftists are concerned ONLY with promotion of their narrative, NOT the actual results that people have to live with. Let the market provide the choices that people can make depending on their individual situations
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      • Posted by bfreeman 3 months, 2 weeks ago
        You are right T2.

        While "follow the science" has become a leftist phrase of choice, physics says the leftists are dead wrong. If it takes more joules to make a power source than one ever recovers from it, then the condition is termed - endothermic - and such sources are not suitable for supporting a power grid (windmills and solar cells).
        Remember a short while back when the suggestion was to plug in your car to help support peak power usage? How well does that work in Chicago at -20 F?
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        • Posted by term2 3 months, 1 week ago
          Government only promotes programs that benefit government and its minions. EVs just give more power to government by restricting choice. Whatever government promotes should be rejected at this point
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  • Posted by CaptainKirk 3 months, 2 weeks ago
    In MI, my neighbor had a diesel vehicle in the 1980s and I remember him having to plug an ELECTRIC BLANKET in the garage, over/around the engine for the 3-4 bad winter months. It was on a timer, and started warming the engine up a few hours before he needed to leave to work.

    By comparison. NOT a huge ordeal. But I always wondered if it was worth it. My dad said, the only way to know... Is to watch what car he buys next! (LOL, it wasn't a diesel... Because he found out he had to record his mileage and pay the fuel tax he was avoiding anyways, LOL)
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    • Posted by $ blarman 3 months, 2 weeks ago
      Lived in Montana. Every vehicle there has a block heater and for good reason: there were some days when I had to plug the block heater in at work or I wouldn't be able to leave at lunch time.

      Caveat emptor...
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    • Posted by $ Snezzy 3 months, 2 weeks ago
      We have block heaters in our Cummins diesel pickups. Needed them a lot in Massachusetts, now not so much in the sunny South. Long ago my wife used to live in NH and it would get down to -40 (C or F, take your pick). She had an extension cord that ran from her apartment to a battery charger and to the diesel VW's block heater. To combat fuel gelling she'd warm up a couple of gallons in the bath as she got dressed, pour that in, start her truck, and be off to work. Along the way she'd also give jump-starting help to her neighbors who said she'd never be able to get her diesel started.

      Advice to young men: Never marry a woman who doesn't own a truck.
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      • Posted by term2 3 months, 2 weeks ago
        Never marry a woman who is more interested in ideology than actual results. I had a 60's car that ran on gasoline. Never had issues starting it up. There was a reason why the invention of gasoline made up the whole market for cars. ICE with gasoline actually worked !!!
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        • Posted by mccannon01 3 months, 2 weeks ago
          Little known factoid: Gasoline was originally an unwanted and discarded byproduct of refining kerosene for lamps from crude oil ca 1859. The internal combustion engine came along in the 1890s and a real use for gasoline was born.
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        • Posted by 3 months, 2 weeks ago
          There aren't many women like that any more.
          The 'justice' system forcing men to pay unreasonable amounts (even when the wife was insisting
          on divorce and was guilty of cheating) has helped destroy the family unit.
          It should have stopped any rational man from signing a marriage contract (with the state)
          that only encourages women to expect their marriage to be a garden of eden with no
          bumps along the way. The courts should be forced to act based on the marriage vows:
          for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health,
          to love and to cherish, till death do us part.
          Marriage today has very little for men.
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  • Posted by nonconformist 3 months, 2 weeks ago
    One thing to note is that this issue exists only in BATTERY POWERED EVs. Hydrogen powered EVs (ones with fuel cells) wouldn't have this problem.
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    • Posted by term2 3 months, 2 weeks ago
      the safest fuel is diesel fuel actually. wasn't hydrogen what blew up in the Hindenburg? Lithium explodes when in contact with water.
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      • Posted by nonconformist 3 months ago
        Hindenburg didn't blow up. The hydrogen caught fire after it leaked out of the bags.

        Hydrogen storage is a problem. It is not terribly practical. However, Toyota and Hyundai made it work already. Still, I am aware of one practical hydrogen storage technology yet to be realized: ammonia. It is pretty similar to propane. You can generate it directly from electricity (research ongoing) and you can get hydrogen from it using a catalytic reaction. Unfortunately, ammonia is corrosive and toxic. However, it is being used as fertilizer, so, maybe it is not so bad. So, hydrogen storage issue can be resolved.

        Lithium batteries DO NOT explode when in contact with water. They are sealed and isolated in layers way too good for that to be an issue.

        I will agree with you about the explosive potential of lithium batteries though, but that happens due to thermal runaway, not due to water. Thermal runaway with lithium batteries, as it so happens, IS put out with water. I've read people using water to put it out. It works because it lowers the temperature of the battery below the critical temperature due to water's volumetric heat capacity.

        Hydrogen, on the other hand, wouldn't have any sort of explosive potential until it is mixed with an oxidizer in close to right proportion. If you have hydrogen (or any other type of fuel) in a tank alone, it is never exploding.

        By the way, diesel will become flammable at the right temperature. So, I wouldn't exactly call it safe.

        The problem is with oil sourced fuels is that oil is eventually going to run out. Maybe not soon, but at some point. Once you run out, it is impractical to create gasoline/diesel from some other source of energy, such as nuclear or solar.

        Another problem is that gasoline/diesel engines are "stone age" contraptions. Their complexity makes them prone to break downs. They require a lot of maintenance, oil changes, etc. They are not very energy efficient, compared to electric motors.

        So, defending ICE vehicles is stupid. That shit should be put to rest and more practical technology needs to be deployed.
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        • Posted by 3 months ago
          How many diesel engines have exploded as a % of the number in use in the past 5 years?
          Compare that % to the % of EVs that have caught fire and destroyed property nearby.
          Diesels are safer and EV's are not ready to compete head to head with ICE vehicles for the same jobs at this point.
          The cost of maintaining diesels is high? How about cost of replacing EV batteries? All vehicles require maintenance
          and at this point the life cycle cost of diesel engines appears to be a better bargain than EVs in the same uses.
          Will hydrocarbon fuels run out some day? Since there is no certainty of the source of such fuels, nor how much is being produced
          (if any) on planet earth, neither you nor anyone else knows if hydrocarbon fuel will ever run out.
          In addition, you assume that EV technology will improve enough to take the place of ICE vehicles, but you also assume
          that there will never be a practical way to create gasoline or diesel. I'd be glad to hear evidence for all these assumptions.
          Defending ICE vehicles isn't 'stupid' as they are better for the job they do than current EVs.
          Defending EV's isn't 'stupid' either, but ignoring their limitations and wasting scarce resources on EV's
          that are much more costly and less effective than ICE vehicles for the job is not rational.
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          • Posted by nonconformist 3 months ago
            There is plenty of research out there that predicts doom for the oil industry. I guess oil will not be gone tomorrow, but it will become more and more expensive as time goes on until a point at which it will no longer be financially viable to use it as fuel/source of energy (solar/nuclear will be cheaper). If you look at the charts, it is already looking pretty bad. As I recall, the current energy cost was 1 barrel of oil to pull 2 out. Once it goes to 1:1, game over. You are going to need to use solar or nuclear to get the oil out of the ground, at which point it would make no sense to burn in in ICE vehicles. You might as well figure out a way to put solar/nuclear energy into your car somehow. I wouldn't recommend batteries, so, the only other thing that I can think of is a fuel cell and hydrogen (or some other chemical energy storage solution).
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          • Posted by nonconformist 3 months ago
            I've looked at existing carbon capture technology as well as corn ethanol, etc. That shit isn't going to be practical. Feel free to research it, I guarantee you there is no way to make that financially viable.
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          • Posted by nonconformist 3 months ago
            You are preaching to the choir, I've already said battery powered EVs are stupid. What I'm saying is that we need FUEL CELL powered EVs, which do already exist. These have a very small battery, which can mostly be replaced by a supercapacitor. So, you can easily have a regular lead acid battery in one of those like in current ICE vehicles. We just need to invest a little bit more R&D into these fuel cell EVs and we will have something much better than ICE vehicles. Ya, forget batteries, Elon is a fucking moron.

            By the way, electric motors don't explode or catch fire. Same with fuel cells. Hydrogen is safe enough, but with my idea of chemical H storage (ammonia or something like it) it would be even more safe (and more efficient).

            Electric motors are extremely low maintenance, as far as I know. They require no oil changes. There are MUCH less parts to break. The is very little friction in them, which means low wear and tear. If you switch to magnetic bearings they'll probably work for thousands of years without needing any maintenance. When was the last time you did maintenance on your bathroom fan?
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        • Posted by term2 3 months ago
          Hindenburg may have caught fire but it spread so fast it sure looked like it blew up. The issues with hydrogen or other energy storage is when unplanned things happen, like accidents. Nothing that stores massive energy is safe under all possible conditions. Break apart lithium batteries in an accident and put water on the lithium and it violently explodes. ICE vehicles were born out of the discovery of oil and gas. Amazing inventions actually that human ingenuity came up with. If oil runs out and whatever is left becomes incredibly expensive, human ingenuity will perfect other methods to make portable energy possible for humankind. Electric storage with lithium batteries has a place but not in remote and cold climates. I bet a model T didn’t start so well in fridgid temps, but modern ICE. Engines soon to work acceptably now. Give credit where credit is due. The IC engine of today is a marvel of engineering. EV is already a marvel of engineering, but not as adaptable as ICE present day technology. I would go for an electric golf cart or fork lift and maybe a Tesla for local use in warm climates. Engineers will eventually make EV technology better hopegully
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          • Posted by nonconformist 3 months ago
            "Engineers will eventually make EV technology better hopegully"

            Yes, by using something like a fuel cell and a liquid chemical energy storage medium.
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            • Posted by term2 3 months ago
              The major challenge is to find an energy storage medium that is safe and easily formulated and lightweight and energy dense that is easily converted to mechanical energy for use in cars and trucks. Quite a challenge actually
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          • Posted by nonconformist 3 months ago
            "The IC engine of today is a marvel of engineering."

            If I put my engineering hat on, it is utter garbage. For engineers, the simpler your design is, the better. ICE engines are way too complex. They suck, IMHO.
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            • Posted by term2 3 months ago
              Good thing you aren’t an engineer. Converting the energy contained in oil based products into mechanical energy is quite a feat. In the last 100 years there are gas turbines, jet engines, ICE for cars using gasoline and diesel fuels that have been perfected to be more efficient and practical. They are marvels of engineering. Current electric cars are marvels of engineering too, but not sustainable because they rely on scarce rare earth metals and the production of much more electricity than is available today. If we didn’t restrict use of nuclear power plants, perhaps this problem can be solved
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              • Posted by nonconformist 3 months ago
                I would dispute that, I am a bit of an engineer myself but in a different area. Why would it be a good thing for me not to be an engineer? I would think it would be a positive thing, no?

                Rare earth metals aren't actually 'rare.'

                Nah, ICE is terrible. You only get like 30% efficiency or so. We need to get rid of that crap asap.
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                • Posted by term2 3 months ago
                  I think I am more upset by the politiization of EV and the forcing them upon us for ideological reasons rather than practical marlet based reasons. When its time for ICE to go and be replaced by something that people prefer, the market will see it happen. In the meantime, Biden can take his EVs and shove them. they are not ready for mass production, and the current glut of EVs that arent selling are proof of that.
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                  • Posted by nonconformist 3 months ago
                    Agreed. Free market should sort this out.

                    I'm a voluntarist myself, by the way. IMHO, your problem exists because of state violence. If the state did not exist, this and a huge percentage of all problems on earth would not exist.
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                    • Posted by term2 3 months ago
                      The state doesnt run anything right really. I wonder whether people would figure out how to respect each other and make anarchy work.
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                      • Posted by nonconformist 3 months ago
                        The key is to realize laws exist without a state. You don't need a monopoly on law making and monopoly on violence to have and enforce laws.

                        For example, a conscientious person doesn't engage in stealing because they fear state punishment. They don't steal because that is an anti-social behavior. It breaks an implied social contract. They don't do it because they don't want others to do it to them. It is an implied rule, an emergent law out of logic and reason. It is a demonstration of a way to derive laws without the need of a state.

                        One does need law enforcement though, but it doesn't need to be provided by a monopoly that imposes itself on society. If one separates law creation (discovery?) and law enforcement, then it becomes possible to have multiple law enforcement agencies that may compete with each other in providing their services to society.

                        I can see this system working.
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          • Posted by nonconformist 3 months ago
            "If oil runs out and whatever is left becomes incredibly expensive, human ingenuity will perfect other methods to make portable energy possible for humankind."

            Let me correct that for you:
            When oil runs out and whatever is left becomes incredibly expensive, human ingenuity may (if not predated upon too strongly by own kind) discover and perfect financially viable methods to make portable energy possible for humankind, but ONLY IF such methods actually possible in the configuration of the current universe with the resources within human reach.

            See, this isn't a given.

            But I guess it already happened to some extent, so, maybe it is not too much of a stretch.
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            • Posted by term2 3 months ago
              I would agree that it might not be possible within the bounds of resource availability and the laws of physics to allow for freedom of travel as we have it today. Before the easy availability of gasoline, travel by horse and buggy was all we had to get around. Gasoline changed all that, but we will need a replacement energy storage when that is depleted. The use of electrical power for transportation is going to depend on the ability to store large amounts of energy that can be easily converted to electricity. Quite a. Challenge. I hope that leftist governments don’t impede the practical implementation of a suitable solution. So far this crazy promotion of electric cars before the technology is ready is distressing. The market is currently rebelling and not buying the electric cars with lithium battery packs. Japanese companies are exploring better alternatives, so we will c
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  • Posted by mccannon01 3 months, 2 weeks ago
    I guess those stranded frozen EV folks are going to have to find a gas powered vehicle to come up along side their dead robot and run the ICE exhaust under the EV until it's battery is in "precondition" state. Bwaaaaa ha ha ha!!!
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  • Posted by $ 25n56il4 3 months, 2 weeks ago
    Thank Heaven for my ten year old Ford SUV. The lying thermostat on my patio said 40 degrees and I started my most loved automobile and it told me it was 29 degrees and dropped to 28 before I got to the grocery store. Then I didn't go out for the next two days! I already decided I don't want to buy an EV. My BFF, a former Lockheed Engineer for NASA told me not to put my beautiful in a EV on our Texas Gulf Coast, they will explode those batteries you are sitting on when it hits our floods we frequently experience.
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    • Posted by term2 3 months, 2 weeks ago
      Sometimes common sense coupled with snippets of actual information are our best friends. Someone did a Utube video where he took apart a AA lithium battery, uncoiled the lithium foil and put it in water, where if immediately caught fire. That little demo was enough proof for me that EV technology isn't read for mass adoption. yet. The mrlet will decide when its ready. In the meantime, the EVs sit idly in the car lots.
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  • Posted by term2 3 months, 2 weeks ago
    thank you Biden for forcing car mfrs to adopt a technology that's just NOT ready for mass adoption. The left is interested only in ideology, NOT in actual results and performance.
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  • Posted by $ katrinam41 3 months, 2 weeks ago
    In rural Ohio, when light bulbs were incandescent and radiated heat, Dad would run one under the hood of his car overnight. A heavy moving blanket helped to keep the heat in, and his car started every morning. How do farmers keep their incubators warm now? Are there any incandescent out there anywhere? I finally ran out of my stored bulbs a few months ago.
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