How cold is it? Colder than a Tesla at a Chicago charging station, it seems.Desperate Tesla owners in the Midwest city are finding it difficult to charge their EVs amid frigid temperatures that have gripped much of Canada and the US as far south as Texas.Fox Chicago is reporting charging stations have essentially turned into EV graveyards as temperatures dropped into the negative double digits — Fahrenheit and Celsius converge at -40. And Teslas, specifically, don’t seem to take well to the cold. That’s because the batteries have to be preconditioned to an optimal temperature to accept a fast charge. All Teslas have the feature via an onboard switch but apparently newbie EV owners can’t be bothered to read the owner’s manual.Owners trying to charge their cars amid long lineups were forced to either abandon them or have them towed away.Frustrated owners took to Twitter (“X”) calling it the ‘Teslapocalypse’."We got a bunch of dead robots out here," one man said. ."This is crazy. It’s a disaster. Seriously," Tesla owner Chalis Mizelle told Fox. Mizelle was forced to abandon her car and get a ride from a friend when it wouldn’t charge.That’s notwithstanding that cold temperatures can cut the range of an EV by more than half when the mercury falls.Tesla this month was forced to lower driver-range estimates across its lineup after new US government vehicle testing regulations came into effect that require automakers to report mileage estimates under ‘real world’ conditions.The new rules require automakers to test EVs’ range and efficiency in ‘default’ driving mode — the one the car uses when a driver first turns it on. Many modern EVs, including Teslas, have a ‘chill mode’ that allows the car to maximize either efficiency or power.Tesla has been accused of overstating what its cars can deliver, prompting widespread complaints from customers, according to automotive testing experts and a Reuters investigation last year..In October, the US Justice Department subpoenaed the automaker for information involving its vehicles’ driving range as well as its autopilot systems.Partly as a result of those investigations, Tesla has seen its share price plummet in recent weeks, losing nearly USD$100 billion in market capitalization since the start of the year. That’s despite the fact its shares more than doubled in 2023.On Tuesday the company’s shares were down nearly 12% in morning trading, to $212.16 on the NASDAQ exchange.
