Electric vehicle (EV) charging stations in Chicago suffered a “disaster” as the city grappled with sub-zero temperatures.
Owners of EVs flocked to charging stations in recent days, attempting to beat the cold weather before chargers stopped working, Fox 32 Chicago reported.
“We got a bunch of dead robots out here,” one frustrated man said, referring to the immobile EVs and their defunct charging stations.
Get an electric vehicle they said.
Everything will be fine they said.
Reality: Chicago-area Tesla charging stations lined with dead cars in freezing cold.
Gas-powered vehicles don’t have this problem. pic.twitter.com/Vrz31KEVUW
— Daniel Turner (@DanielTurnerPTF) January 16, 2024
Several Tesla drivers desperately tried to power their EVs at the Tesla supercharging station in Oak Brook, where they found long lines and abandoned vehicles, the outlet reported.
“Nothing. No juice. Still on zero percent,” said Tyler Beard, who was unsuccessful in powering his EV at the Oak Brook supercharging station Sunday afternoon, according to the outlet. “And this is like three hours being out here after being out here three hours yesterday.”
Tesla owner Chalis Mizelle told Fox 32 that she received a ride from a friend after leaving her EV at the charging station, while Kevin Sumrak was forced to hire a flatbed tow truck to bring his Tesla to a charging station after he landed at O’Hare International Airport on Sunday and found the EV’s battery dead, according to the outlet. (RELATED: Philadelphia’s Fleet Of Electric Government Cars Is A Total Disaster: REPORT)
Mark Bilek of the Chicago Auto Trade Union said that EVs bring “a learning curve for people,” Fox 32 noted. He explained that EVs have issues in extremely cold weather and that drivers must press their preconditioning button before charging an EV’s battery.
“It’s not plug and go,” Bilek said, according to the outlet. “You have to precondition the battery, meaning that you have to get the battery up to the optimal temperature to accept a fast charge.”