Despite the cold weather across much of the nation, this time of year is typically characterized by warm gatherings of friends and family. Of course, for that to happen one has to be present at those gatherings. That proved impossible for one man over the weekend as his Tesla Model S failed to charge in sub-freezing temperatures.
TikTok user Domnatishow posted a short video of the incident and has more than 10,000 comments on it as of this writing. In the post we see him complaining that his Tesla won’t charge in the cold. First, he shows us that it’s 19°F (7°C) and that he has 19 miles of range remaining.
Next, he walks us through the instructions he’s given, namely to keep the charger plugged in while the battery heats up. EV batteries can accept higher charging rates once they’re ‘pre-conditioned’ in this manner. Despite following that instruction, the car continues to give the same direction for multiple hours without actually adding any range whatsoever.
More: Winter Tips To Optimize Your EV’s Driving Range
@domnatishow Tesla S will not charge in the cold. Stranded on Christmas Eve! #tesla #ev #cold #winter #winterweather #storm #christmas #christmaseve #coldweather #weather #blizzard #wow #car #cars #elonmusk #help #stranded #how #electric #electriccar #teslas #teslamodel3 #charge #mad #fail #merrychristmas #twitter #truck #trucks #storm ♬ original sound – Domenick Nati
According to Domnatishow, he also tried charging at home so this isn’t the fault of the Tesla Supercharger station. It seems likely that whatever caused this Tesla to resist charging is limited to this particular car. Similar reports of charging issues with the Model S aren’t prevalent.
According to a report from Insider, the owner ultimately hitched a ride back home in hopes that the Tesla would charge given enough time. After it still wasn’t charged some 15 hours later, he decided to cancel his holiday plans.
It’s worth noting that electric cars face charging challenges and subsequently, range challenges in cold weather. It’s such an important factor that brands like Ford have released videos and instructions to owners about maximizing range in cold weather.
On top of that, studies indicate that cold weather can decrease range by more than 30 percent overall. Charging speeds can be affected too. Toyota’s bZ4X made headlines earlier this year when it became clear that the EV SUV might not be able to use fast charging when temps dropped below freezing.
Freezing temps don’t only affect electric cars either. Gas pumps can freeze too though oftentimes, it’s the mechanical bits of the pump itself that freeze, not the fuel itself.
