“Chicago’s electric car charging stations have turned into scenes of despair due to battery discharges, drivers confronting each other, and long lines that lead out of the streets.” The day before, the wind chill temperature in Chicago dropped to minus 34 degrees Celsius. Nick Seti, a 35-year-old engineer in Chicago, said his Tesla car froze the previous morning and didn’t even open the car door. He pushed the built-in trunk handle to open the trunk, got in the car, and traveled 5 miles (8 kilometers) to the Tesla Supercharger charging station, but waited for hours because all 12 chargers were already in use. “We will decide whether to survive this winter and continue to own Tesla,” he said. Another Tesla driver also regretted buying Tesla after witnessing long queues at several Tesla charging stations. “If the car had only 50 miles (80 kilometers) of mileage while waiting in the queue, I would not be able to charge it,” he said, adding that he saw several cars that were discharged while waiting in the queue.
A Tesla owner told Chicago’s local broadcaster WLS, “At least 10 Tesla vehicles have seen their batteries run out and towed.” Experts explain that in extremely low temperatures below zero, the chemical reaction between the positive and negative electrodes of the battery slows down, making charging difficult. “It’s very difficult to operate a battery-powered electric vehicle in a very cold environment in the end,” said Jack Brower, a mechanical engineering professor at the University of California, Irvine. “You can’t charge the battery quickly if it’s cold, but there’s no way to physically solve it.”
Tesla did not respond to a request for a related position.
JENNIFER KIM
ASIA JOURNAL
