Tesla Car
GRAVEYARDS In Chicago As
Deep Freeze DRAINS
Batteries, Climate Agenda
Will KILL PEOPLE
Timcast
| Date added:
17-January-2024
My response...
In this video (not
intentionally related to the
previous one), Tesla-fanboy
himself, Tim Pool, defends
Tesla after electric cars
are left stranded without
power during freezing
conditions in Chicago. He
blames the owners for not
knowing that their batteries
will not work in such
conditions, or for failing
to prepare them.
Someone in the comments
section of his upload to
Rumble remarked that the
real issue is with gasoline-powered
cars in the summer in
Arizona, since they often
catch fire due to oil leaks.
This, I pointed out was due
to a lack of maintenance;
here in the UK our vehicles
are subjected to an annual
checkup (MOT) which will
highlight existing oil
leaks. Generally we're not
demanded to rectify such
leaks, supposedly because
they don't pose the same
risk in our cooler summers,
but repairs could simply
mandated in a place like
Arizona where the risk is
greater. This is not the
same as a relatively new car
simply not functioning
because the technology it
runs on can't cope with the
conditions.
That being said, there are
extreme conditions where
things will just not
operate, or will break.
Drive your car through water
that is too deep for it and
it will fail, try and drive
it off road when it is not
built for that, and it will
get stuck. But this Tesla
battery issue is surely a
failure of forethought on
the part of Tesla (other
electric cars surely have
this issue also).
Teslas have an array of
technologies on board, they
can pretty much drive
themselves. Cars for decades
have been able to alert the
driver to ice. That an
operator of such a device
doesn't know the limitations
of their device should be an
assumption of the
manufacturer, or are they
ignorant of these
limitations also?
A Tesla knows the road
ahead; it has maps and can
be informed of roadworks or
diversions ahead. It knows
of the locations of charging
stations, and it can also
know the weather conditions
- all this data is available
on the internet for which it
is connected. Therefore, the
vehicle itself can forecast,
on behalf of the driver,
that weather conditions pose
a risk to the vehicle and
alert the driver
accordingly: "Cold
temperatures present, aim to
keep the battery above 50%
charge, keep the vehicle
running..." etc.
It appears that people were
finding their vehicles
batteries were not holding
charge in these Chicago
conditions, or they were
"running out" sooner than
expected. These people were
then seeking to charge up
their vehicle, and seemingly
switching the vehicle off
during charging, for which
the car could then not
re-activate because the
temperature of the battery
had dropped too low. This
should all be catered for
within the technology of the
car; if coolant can be
circulated through the
batteries to keep the
temperatures within a safe
operating temperature, then
surely they could also be
warmed using a similar
process. Of course this
relies on the batteries
having sufficient charge to
begin with.
Recently an electric car
owner claimed on UK radio
that an electric car could
keep its occupants warm for
two days, but in hindsight
they were failing to account
for diminishing returns from
those batteries in cold (UK)
conditions, or that they
might fail entirely.
Tim casually exclaimed in
his video that he also has a
vehicle with an internal
combustion engine for this
very eventuality. Lucky you.
He also had a garage that he
can keep his Tesla warm in.
Good for you. I wonder how
much this would add to an
energy bill of a regular
home-owner who is tied to
the grid for their energy.
Great if you are Tim and can
not only afford a Tesla, and
another car, and a heated
garage and you have the
level of understanding about
the batteries in your
vehicles. For everyone else,
even the battery in a
petrol/diesel-powered car
can struggle in freezing
conditions, particularly if
that battery is a few years
old. If you notice your car
is sluggish to start during
colder weather then it might
be worth charging that
battery up with a standalone
charger, especially if you
typically only drive short
distances. Also be aware
that your vehicle uses
coolant/anti-freeze and it
might be too concentrated
for extreme cold. Keep a
warm blanket in your vehicle
in case you are left
stranded somewhere.
What do you think?
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