Tesla Truck reveal happening now.

Chicago has a Tesla graveyard....it's too cold to charge!

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2024/01/16/chicago-deep-freeze-has-created-a-tesla-graveyard/

 

It's sounding like approx 80% to 90% of the Tesla chargers aren't actually working, rather than the cars being at fault in this case. Tesla of course is not saying anything.

 

What I read was that the charging was throttled way down due to the cold and the ability of the batteries to take a charge at those temps (which really means that charging at a reasonable rate will overcook the batteries and lead to warranty claims)

 

Reports I'm seeing is that the majority of the Tesla chargers just wouldn't charge, period. Even a trickle charge would have cut down the need for tow trucks and shuffling cars by hand.

 

Maybe the cold weather charging widget hasn’t been activated…

 

It's an extra $10/month.

 

I didn't have any issues with the cold other than the expected higher energy consumption while driving. However, I do not use supercharging in my normal drive. I did make sure to charge at home as soon as my drive was complete and the battery was still warm. Letting the battery cool off before charging makes it harder. Typically when the weather is not cold I charge overnight when the cost is only $.07/kwh.

 

It's my understanding that when it's really cold out a Tesla will use up to 30 miles/day of electricity just to keep the battery warm. After about a 5-7 days of that the battery will be depleted enough to be unable to continue warming itself. Apparently it's can damage a LI-ION battery to be too cold, which of course means if you park it at the airport and leave it there for several days in weather like this you're likely to come back to a car that's going nowhere.

Add to that the sudden increased demand on superchargers and "Heather" was a perfect storm (pardon the pun) to demonstrate one of the biggest vulnerabilities of mass market EV. But as Nietzsche implied, it'll either kill the industry or make it stronger.

 

I keep meaning to look into a couple vehicles with a generator and gas cans for EV owners to call in case of emergency...

 

How does a Tesla lock the wheels in park ?

Something has to keep it from rolling

Are the tow truck drivers trained on this so they don't damage things ?

 

IIRC they use an electrically operated brake caliper that doubles as the e-brake.

 

Some Cybertruck owners say their Teslas are starting to rust in the rain

https://www.businessinsider.com/tes...ting-rust-rain-orange-specks-elon-musk-2024-2

Cue the Tesla apologists, "Hey, not a problem, just keep it in the garage
when it rains and treat it with this special Tesla polish every 2 or 3 days,
it only costs $49.95 for a 5 oz bottle."

 

Sounds like some people have never owned a white vehicle…

You drive down the road and your car is bombarded with iron particles from the environment. Dafuq you think is gonna happen when those itsy bitsy specks of iron embed themselves in the body of your Ray-O-Vac-Amino and the rain comes?

But reality is hard for some people…

 

It's a bullshit article with no pictures.
I looked at both threads referenced in the 'article' where the owners called it rust or corrosion and posted pictures. No orange at all. It's just a bunch of little black dots on the surface that does not look like rust. The owners clearly have no idea what they're actually looking at and Business Insider should be embarrassed at such sloppy reporting without a shred of investigation or credible research.
To be transparent, I own Tesla stock from when I worked there, but that doesn't mean I think that electric vehicles should take over the planet. Far from it. They have their place and ICE vehicles have their place as well.
I actually I think the Cyber truck is a dumb concept, mainly because it doesn't look like a traditional truck, so it has limited mass market appeal. But if people feel the to make themselves feel better about not liking electric vehicles by writing or referencing poorly researched articles, it just looks weak.

 

Tesla Cybertruck turns into world's most expensive brick after car wash

TESLA CYBERTRUCKS RECALLED FOR LIFE-THREATENING ACCELERATOR ISSUES

 

meh... I'm sure you recall all the issues when they introduced sliced bread right? And they worked them out and that's pretty successful now.

 

That stop sale over the stupid accelerator pedal design and assembly is pretty bad.