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

Posted by freedomforall 1 year, 3 months 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?"
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Stupid moron.


All Comments


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  • Posted by $ Snezzy 1 year, 3 months ago in reply to this comment.
    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 $ Snezzy 1 year, 3 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Park the car on top of the manure pile. Why would there be a problem in Chicago? Don't they have loads of donkey dung everywhere?
    Reply | Permalink  
  • Posted by bfreeman 1 year, 3 months 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 $ blarman 1 year, 3 months ago in reply to this comment.
    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 CaptainKirk 1 year, 3 months 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)
    Reply | Permalink  
  • Posted by nonconformist 1 year, 3 months 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.
    Reply | Permalink  
  • -1
    Posted by jerryp 1 year, 3 months ago
    President Trump, as the “ captain of the ship,”
    should take the blame.
    Reply | Permalink  
  • Posted by $ Olduglycarl 1 year, 3 months ago
    Back in the old days, when it got that cold, our grandfathers built a fire under the engine!
    Reply | Permalink  
  • Posted by mccannon01 1 year, 3 months 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!!!
    Reply | Permalink  
  • Posted by Ben_C 1 year, 3 months ago
    Hmmm - I don't see John "Lurch" Kerry in line trying to charge his EV. Wait - EV"s are not yet in lemos.
    Reply | Permalink  
  • Posted by $ AJAshinoff 1 year, 3 months 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.
    Reply | Permalink  
  • Posted by Aeronca 1 year, 3 months 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 $ 25n56il4 1 year, 3 months 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 $ allosaur 1 year, 3 months ago
    Not even the jumper cables I keep in my car for needful to start an engine emergencies could help those virtue-seeking dummies.
    If this outcome came as a surprise it would have been shocking.
    Reply | Permalink  

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