In the past few days, we have not only experienced unpleasant winter weather, but also in the United States. Moreover, the prolonged severe frost, with the lowest temperature between minus 20 and minus 30 degrees Celsius, has caused a real crisis there. We also reported that the cold caused serious disruption to electric vehicle drivers in the Chicago area. They simply couldn't load their cars, and some had their completely exhausted cars towed with a trailer.
It has previously been said that the reason is not the fault of the cars, but rather problems with the charging network faced by drivers who do not really know their cars. As in a car equipped with an internal combustion engine, it is appropriate to know what type of fuel to fill and not to mix gasoline and diesel randomly, so it is good to be aware of the ideal charging conditions for an e-car.
In the case of high-performance energy-capable types, for example, it is necessary to pre-cool the battery pack, to reach the appropriate temperature during charging. With some careful planning, the problem can be solved, as one Tesla owner showed in a video.
A long-term 2022 Tesla Model Y AWD shows how to do it in the cold of -30 degrees Celsius.
The Model Y owner begins the preparation process immediately when he or she drives to the charging point. The process attempts to heat the battery enough to accept charging. However, this consumes power, so you need to make sure you have enough juice in your battery to use this feature while still having access to a charger with some spare parts in case something goes wrong.
When I accessed the supercharger, the battery was hot enough to draw over 100 kilowatts of current, more than enough for fast charging. Wanting to try other chargers, the owner pulled out the Model Y and headed to another charging station. After less than a minute of plugging in and starting to charge, the Tesla began picking up power at a rate consistent with the charger's performance. Finally, they found a third charger and it also charged the Tesla without any problems.
So the lesson of the story is that if you know how to use your electric car properly, charging it in the extreme cold shouldn't be much of a problem. You just have to think and take into account the shorter range and longer charging times.
