EV’s stuck for days unable to charge in frozen Chicago : “A bunch of dead robots”
EV, electric cars, stuck at charging stations.
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By Jo Nova
“Plugged in and not charging”
In the deep freeze this week, people all over Canada and the USA are finding out how complicated it is to own an EV in cold weather.
Not only do the cars lose a hefty 30 to 50% of their range, but the battery itself can’t accept charge if it gets too cold, so EV’s need to precondition their batteries before they can start to charge. (To precondition is EV-jargon for “warming them up”.) However, there is a point, as temperatures fall, where batteries cannot even heat themselves enough so they can start charging. They have to drain the battery to charge the battery. It’s a death-spiral towards a frozen singularity.
How cold is too cold? The ideal temperature for charging an EV is 15 – 35°C (or 60-95 F) so some advise preconditioning the battery when it’s below 15C. But the charging speed declines as the chemical reactions slow down, and it reaches nothing at about 0°C (32F). So if the car is minus five, the battery won’t even accept a charge.
At the supercharging station in Oak Brook Chicago, people have been trying for days to charge their EVs, which are stuck immobile at the charging station while the queues grow. People without a home charger are rather screwed:
https://joannenova.com.au/2024/01/evs-stuck-for-days-unable-to-charge-in-frozen-chicago-a-bunch-of-dead-robots/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=evs-stuck-for-days-unable-to-charge-in-frozen-chicago-a-bunch-of-dead-robots