Tesla Supercharging stations across Chicago have become known as “Tesla graveyards”, as an increasingly large number of EV owners have been left stranded after temperatures have dropped down to negative double digits in Chicago.
Batteries run at peak efficiency during ambient temperatures; during excessively high or low temperatures, the battery loses a large amount of its efficiency. Along with this, habits that involve running the charge to extremely low levels before trying to recharge the battery impact charge times as well.
A charge that would typically take thirty minutes now takes about two to three hours because the ambient temperatures have dropped so low. Why is this? This occurs because the flow of ions in the battery packs slows down as temperatures drop, when at temperatures this low, the flow slows down to extremely low levels creating high resistance. This essentially means that it costs significantly more energy to do the same task.
There is a workaround for this issue, which would be to “precondition” the battery. Preconditioning the battery simply heats the battery to a temperature where the battery is ready to accept charge at such high rates, this temperature is usually around 115 degrees Fahrenheit.
What is the reason for the Tesla graveyard? Well, the answer is, bad driving habits. The owners of these electric vehicles have the habit of running the charge down before searching for a supercharger. Truth is, it is pretty difficult to heat the battery when you have to heat the battery, with the battery. This leaves the owners of these vehicles no choice but to wait about three hours to charge their batteries.
“It’s half and half, while there are some people that know tech pretty well, there are some that aren’t so fond of it.” Electric car owner Dakota Vavken Hylton said. “For those who aren’t fond of it, it makes it pretty difficult to have a car that relies so much on technology.”
The lack of knowledge when it comes to the technology of these new cars, continues to cause problems. This is mainly because people have to realize that old habits from gas cars will not work here. Another factor is that the technology is still fairly new because the first mass-produced electric car was released in 1996, the technology still needs work to be able to handle situations like these.
“I don’t think Teslas are ready to handle temperatures like that because they are still fairly new and have not been perfected.” Junior Jonathan Copeland said.
With time, the technology of these vehicles will allow them to operate in such unforgiving conditions, but at the moment, the new technology combined with bad driving habits results in a domino effect.
As other people wait in line for a charging station with an already low charge, they continue to consume more power to keep the cabin warm. Keeping the cabin warm in such harsh conditions demands a substantial amount of power, essentially, their car dies as they wait for a charger.
A question that might rise to many would be, ‘Why don’t people charge at home?’. While it is a great point, the truth is that a majority of people do not own home chargers to start with and solely depend on outside charging stations, mainly because they live in apartments. When a situation like this comes, it causes an absolute mess and just makes you question the capabilities of these vehicles.
“Times change but people are not willing to do so.” Vavken-Hylton said.
