Those Tesla’s sure are pretty. And, when it’s cold, if you don’t need to go anywhere (like for groceries or to the doctor’s office), then Tesla might be the car for you. But the lipstick came off the pig when the northern US got hammered by a January cold snap.
The cold drained the Tesla batteries in a jiffy—both because batteries are a lot less efficient when it’s cold, and because the Tesla mileage is significantly reduced when the Tesla battery must also heat the passenger cabin. (Regular gasoline powered cars don’t suffer a significant mileage loss because heat from the exhaust system warms the passenger cabin.)
It gets worse for Tesla—during cold weather, the charging time for electric vehicles goes way up. And when the battery is really cold IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO CHARGE THE BATTERY AT ALL! Here is a video of some frustrated drivers in Chicago: Can't charge cold Teslas.
But the pretty lipstick is covering more than just cold weather problems. Even with the best (translated: most expensive) super chargers the charging time for an electric vehicle is nearly a half hour (and much much longer if you can’t afford the super charger). If the politicians shoving EV’s down our throat succeed in making EV’s dominant…where are they all going to be charged? They certainly won’t all fit at the local Sheetz or 7-Eleven.
And then there is the ugly truth about emergencies…like when the power is out…and you need your car to rescue grandma or buy a pizza because President Biden took your gas stove and your new electric stove isn’t working…because the power is out.
But don’t worry. The electricity grid is perfectly reliable. And as we add more and more electricity generation from unreliable wind and solar facilities, the grid is, of course…getting more reliable. Right? So don’t fear your power going out…at least not until our next blog…
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