Teslas not charging in the cold

[243deer]

The temperature reported as causing a problem for charging is -7  a temp we have had here recently for several days in a row - I am sure Tesla will report this as being the wrong sort of cold

As always we do not live in a perfect world and I am sure that those who are already convinced that electric vehicles are faultless and will save the world will make the excuses that are a sop for their beliefs.

In the meantime anyone with an electric vehicle in my area that will not charge due to the cold is welcome to contact me for help as long as they can stomach being driven in a diesel vehicle. 

https://www.foxbusiness.com/technology/tesla-owner-says-cancel-christmas-plans-car-would-not-charge-freezing-weather

[ditchman]

just right for america at -45 degs then...................

all this nancy boy technology...is bloody useless

 

"ahhhhh the smell of unburnt octane in the morning....."

[bornfree]

A mate of mine collected a brand new electric car from Bristol and brought it back to Norfolk on his 7.5ton truck because the owner was told by the dealership that it  wouldn't do the journey on a full charge because of the cold weather. 

The future looks bright 😂

[aldivalloch]

Well, I spent last Christmas in Oslo where we had a few inches of snow and the temperature fell to -16⁰c. Didn't seem to be bothering the large numbers of electric cars that I saw on the roads at all times of the day.......

[Vince Green]

The problem with electric cars in the winter is not just charging

You are running a heater, and more often than not  lights and wipers as well. All draining the battery 

This can seriously reduce the maximum operating range.  Sometimes by half

Edited December 25, 2022 by Vince Green

[treetree]

I knew of someone who added on 50% to their Coventry to Cornwall journey time due to having to stop and charge twice.

I just can't see the appeal.

[enfieldspares]

1 hour ago, Vince Green said:

The problem with electric cars in the winter is not just charging

You are running a heater, and more often than not  lights and wipers as well. All draining the battery 

This can seriously reduce the maximum operating range.  Sometimes by half

This. Sat on the side of the road whilst waiting for my son to arrive back from beating in my petrol car I can keep the heater on and the radio on and have no worry at all about the battery then going flat. And, much as I loathe the man, as Clarkson says "Where do people think the electricity comes from to charge the car?"

Edited December 25, 2022 by enfieldspares

[JohnfromUK]

10 hours ago, enfieldspares said:

"Where do people think the electricity comes from to charge the car?"

Much (other than at peak times) does come from 'non fossil' sources.  You can see where at any time here;  http://www.gridwatch.templar.co.uk/

At the time of writing:

1. Wind, 49.5%
2. Nuclear, 20.9%
3. Combined cycle gas turbine, 11.4%
4. Solar, 2%

and the rest various interconnects, hydro, biomass etc.

It has always been the case with rechargeable batteries that charging at low temperatures is a problem, however, I understood that most can still be charged ...... but it takes a little longer initially until,the charging process itself warms them a bit.

Personally, for the (very low) mileage I do, I will stick to diesel/petrol for the present.

[hawkfanz]

13 hours ago, bornfree said:

A mate of mine collected a brand new electric car from Bristol and brought it back to Norfolk on his 7.5ton truck because the owner was told by the dealership that it  wouldn't do the journey on a full charge because of the cold weather. 

The future looks bright 😂

was it orange?

[Bobba]

15 hours ago, ditchman said:

 

"ahhhhh the smell of unburnt octane in the morning....."

Only to be beaten by the smell of Castrol R

Edited December 26, 2022 by Bobba

[hawkfanz]

on the subject of green energy electric,have the greens seen what happens with life expired turbine blades,they bury em in the ground,not recuclable due to construction of resins/carbon fibre etc,and life span is only a few years.

[Vince Green]

12 hours ago, treetree said:

I knew of someone who added on 50% to their Coventry to Cornwall journey time due to having to stop and charge twice.

I just can't see the appeal.

My mate Gordon did the same on his regular North London to South Wales trip to visit family in his new Nissan Leaf. He got as far as Leigh Dellamare services on the M4 and was out of charge. Probably because he had the aircon full on, it was the middle of summer.

Over an hour to recharge but he was low again by the time he got to Aberdare. He had to limp it to a supermarket to charge it again. He didn't keep the car long and said afterwards that every time he drove it he spent the entire time watching that needle and getting tense.

Edited December 26, 2022 by Vince Green

[bluesj]

18 minutes ago, Bobba said:

Only to be beaten by the smell of Castro R

👍

 

I watched a you tube video the other day that was looking at charging in the cold and it was some chargers that are the problem not the cars/batteries.

[ph5172]

I do see both sides of the EV debate. 
For town driving and the odd out of town trip I can see the appeal (not withstanding the huge increase in the cost of electricity)

for the odd trip to the coast a couple of times a year you could probably factor in stopping for a pee and coffee … but….. it would be annoying. 
then if your in the backwaters of Cornwall you will spend the last day sat around with your car charging for 20 off hours on a domestic socket. 
 

On a side note I looked on a calculator the other day and with the price difference in petrol vs diesel they were both coming back around the same cost/distance now. 

[enfieldspares]

1 hour ago, Vince Green said:

He didn't keep the car long and said afterwards that every time he drove it he spent the entire time watching that needle and getting tense.

I did that when I had a Sunbeam Tiger 260! When you floored it you could actually see the fuel tank gauge needled moving to the left!

[243ack]

2 hours ago, enfieldspares said:

I did that when I had a Sunbeam Tiger 260! When you floored it you could actually see the fuel tank gauge needled moving to the left!

 

You should try a Jensen Interceptor SP!.

[enfieldspares]

53 minutes ago, 243ack said:

 

You should try a Jensen Interceptor SP!.

LOL! I did indeed look at one to buy complete with the eight track. A Mark 3. Owned by the village postmaster and for sale after his death. And, yes, the fuel consumption put me off and that was in the early 1980s!

[bornfree]

7 hours ago, 243ack said:

 

You should try a Jensen Interceptor SP!.

A bloke moved into our village in the 1980s he had an interceptor it did 12 mpg but us kids were mighty impressed with the 7.2 l engine. Everyone else had a 1300 ford.

[Westward]

On 26/12/2022 at 10:36, Vince Green said:

My mate Gordon did the same on his regular North London to South Wales trip to visit family in his new Nissan Leaf. He got as far as Leigh Dellamare services on the M4 and was out of charge. Probably because he had the aircon full on, it was the middle of summer.

Over an hour to recharge but he was low again by the time he got to Aberdare. He had to limp it to a supermarket to charge it again. He didn't keep the car long and said afterwards that every time he drove it he spent the entire time watching that needle and getting tense.

I filled up with petrol last Wednesday. Did a few shopping trips then on Christmas Day drove to London for a family Xmas and didn't spare the horses. Drove home Boxing Day and made 2 shopping trips since then. Probably covered 250+ miles all told and the tank's still half full.

All went pretty smoothly for us but not so much for these folks: https://metro.co.uk/2022/12/28/six-hour-queues-show-what-its-really-like-owning-a-tesla-at-christmas-18004669/

 

[Lord O War]

I was watching a youtube vid by richrebuilds and he was doing a trip in his new electric not a tesla, I forget what it was.  Anyway he was going to another dealer because they were being a bit shady claiming an electric vehicle they were selling had an option it couldn't have.  The problem he found was that the Gov is insane if they think the country is anywhere near ready to ditch ICE ( this was in the USA). Outside the big progressive cities there is very little in the way of chargers, some of the chargers on the map were in hotels and for resident use only, many many of the chargers were slow chargers that only did 3-4 miles per hour! He spent hours in some very delightful parts of towns. Oh and best of all was the cost to charge, wow I thought petrol was expensive!  I cannot see it being any better in this country.

[Stonepark]

Diesel costs about £1.80 a litre, and there is roughly 10kwh per litre so 18p per kilowatt.

I get about 11mpl in my Duster but assuming I have a heavier foot, let's call it 10mpl to make calculations easier.

So a 45mpg diesel costs 18p\mile in my Duster.

For a 60mpg car, diesels costs 13p\mile.

 

An electric car gets 3-4.5 miles per kWh, depending on model but let's call it 4mpkwh, with current home charging electricity cost at capped £0.34\kwh = 8.5p\mile under the Energy price cap guarantee.

With OFGEM's recent price cap calculation of 74p\kwh home charging would cost 18.5p\mile and come March 2024 {when the EPCG) ends, that's what our boogered electricity supply could be costing.

As much as it costs to fuel my diesel Duster per mile) and which would offer no benefit to anyone paying for electricity from the grid, nevermind the additional capital required to purchase a EV in the first place.

The electricity prices are for home charging, you can add 20p per unit for remote charging on a public charger so you could be almost a £1 per kWh or 25p per mile.

 

[Vince Green]

10 hours ago, Stonepark said:

Diesel costs about £1.80 a litre, and there is roughly 10kwh per litre so 18p per kilowatt.

I get about 11mpl in my Duster but assuming I have a heavier foot, let's call it 10mpl to make calculations easier.

So a 45mpg diesel costs 18p\mile in my Duster.

For a 60mpg car, diesels costs 13p\mile.

 

An electric car gets 3-4.5 miles per kWh, depending on model but let's call it 4mpkwh, with current home charging electricity cost at capped £0.34\kwh = 8.5p\mile under the Energy price cap guarantee.

With OFGEM's recent price cap calculation of 74p\kwh home charging would cost 18.5p\mile and come March 2024 {when the EPCG) ends, that's what our boogered electricity supply could be costing.

As much as it costs to fuel my diesel Duster per mile) and which would offer no benefit to anyone paying for electricity from the grid, nevermind the additional capital required to purchase a EV in the first place.

The electricity prices are for home charging, you can add 20p per unit for remote charging on a public charger so you could be almost a £1 per kWh or 25p per mile.

 

The other problem in supermarkets like the ALDI near us is that they put the charging points right near the entrance door. When I go there to shop I have noticed that most of the cars parked on the charging points are not even electric cars.

It's just a convenient place for lazy people to park. So that isn't going to work for electric car owners wanting a charge

When my mother was alive I used to get really cross when the same thing happened with disabled spaces.

[Vince Green]

18 hours ago, Westward said:

I filled up with petrol last Wednesday. Did a few shopping trips then on Christmas Day drove to London for a family Xmas and didn't spare the horses. Drove home Boxing Day and made 2 shopping trips since then. Probably covered 250+ miles all told and the tank's still half full.

All went pretty smoothly for us but not so much for these folks: https://metro.co.uk/2022/12/28/six-hour-queues-show-what-its-really-like-owning-a-tesla-at-christmas-18004669/

 

There is a Tesla charging point at Westbourne near Bournemouth.  There is often a queue to use it in the summer.  If you are waiting there to get on the charging point you will be on a double yellow line and causing a bit of a hold up.

That link you posted showed South Mimms Services. You get a £60 fine if you stay there more than two hours. So add that into the cost of a six hour wait.

This Christmas we are staying with my mother in law 'Granny sitting'. It's a residential South London suburb

I have already seen two charging cables stretched across pavements and I have not been out and about that much. Is that what we have to expect now ?

I can see arguments developing where people start saying "you can't park there, I need to charge my car"

Round here you are lucky if you can find a parking space in the same road. When we came back from my stepdaughter's the other night I had to drop my wife and MIL off and drive round looking for a space.

There is no practical way any of the residents round here are ever going to be able to own an electric car.

Edited December 29, 2022 by Vince Green

[Walker570]

On 26/12/2022 at 10:12, Bobba said:

Only to be beaten by the smell of Castrol R

OH!! OH!! OH!!!!!  at the smell of Castrol R I go into Toad of Toad Hall girations. Used it in my Mini race engine back in the sixties.

 

Ref electricary cars I see there where 3hr lines waiting to charge on some holiday routes.    

[Westward]

1 hour ago, Vince Green said:

This Christmas we are staying with my mother in law 'Granny sitting'. It's a residential South London suburb

I have already seen two charging cables stretched across pavements and I have not been out and about that much. Is that what we have to expect now ?

I can see arguments developing where people start saying "you can't park there, I need to charge my car"

Round here you are lucky if you can find a parking space in the same road. When we came back from my stepdaughter's the other night I had to drop my wife and MIL off and drive round looking for a space.

There is no practical way any of the residents round here are ever going to be able to own an electric car.

 

 

 

The parking is pretty much the same where we spent Christmas day at our son's in Thames Ditton. Last year there was a family a few doors along who had 5 cars, 2 of them electric, and the consequent cables draped across the pavement. They've moved out now but parking is still a matter of luck as very few of the homes have off street parking and those are mostly single vehicle spaces. There are about 100 homes in that street and as far as I could tell not a single EV.

London and the south east has 10s of thousands of such streets and it's the same story in every city and town across the country.

Further down the lane where we live there are 2 terraces of 6 cottages built for the mill workers in the 19th century. They are built at right angles to the lane and only 2 of the 12 can park on their own property. Parking all their vehicles in a narrow lane is a daily problem that affects/annoys properties well away from the terraces.

Installing charge points in street lamps won't work there either as there are only 2 and they're on the wrong side of the road. 

Perhaps the scientific "experts" who accidently created the greatest hoax in history might consider applying some real science to climate change and stop guessing that it's carbon dioxide emissions.