There are few things more stressful for an EV owner than waking up to a nearly empty battery in subzero temperatures, and one Tesla Model X driver in Chicago lived that reality firsthand.
After parking overnight on the street in 9-degree weather with roughly 30 miles of range remaining, he woke up to just 1 percent battery. With nearby Superchargers showing 30-minute waits the night before, he made a decision many urban EV owners have faced, hoping morning charging would be enough to get him moving again. It very nearly was not.
Unable to make it to a Supercharger, the owner plugged in Tesla’s portable 115V charger, a last-resort option in extreme cold. For nearly three hours, the car displayed a discouraging message, charging at zero miles per hour with a warning that less energy was available due to the cold battery. The situation looked bleak, with commenters debating whether the car would ever begin charging at all in those conditions…