Caution when parking on an incline on top of snow

[Medved_77]

I've seen a few examples of this recently. Tesla owners are parking their car, often on a slight hill when it's been snowing and the car just slides away once the owner is out of the car.

See here:

Here with added fireworks:

And lastly...

Not sure if this is just a Tesla thing due to low centre of gravity/even weight distribution/weak parking brake? Perhaps it affects all cars, but I haven't come across it before if so.

What makes it extra worrying, as in video #2, if you are plugged in you'll likely take the wall charger with you! Luckily my driveway is flat, it it wasn't, I'd be investing in some chocks.

 

[Traguar]

common theme here isn't Telsa - it's ice. Don't park on an iced up slope in any car and it can't happen

 

[exlatccatsa]

So theyre not rolling away, they're sliding away?

 

[NeilG40]

So theyre not rolling away, they're sliding away?

The top video is definitely sliding, that why it starts going sideways.

 

[AndrewGR]

Not sure if this is just a Tesla thing. But I guess once the car is parked the weight can, in certain conditions, melt the snow and ice to form a very slippery surface under the wheels. This could be enough to get the car moving. Once it is sliding it may well keep going. Surprised I haven’t heard of it before though. Chocks wouldn’t help much unless they had teeth like crampons!

 

[Sparkeur]

No doubt, the Taptes Ice-anchor is in production as we write.

Unfortunately, it's won't arrive until winter 2022.

 

[init6]

No doubt, the Taptes Ice-anchor is in production as we write.

Unfortunately, it's won't arrive until winter 2022.

Summer 2023.

 

[PatrickCH4313]

I'm a bit surprised with the video 2 . When connected to my Tesla wall charger at home or to a Supercharger, I can't put in drive mode and got a message with the Model S.

 

[Alistairuk]

It would seem someone in Glasgow last night / this morning wasn’t having a good time. (Was sent the video by a friend and stuck on YouTube to share)

Edit: I noticed you could see the people in the cars face in the original so I’ve edited it to cut the first bit out.

 

[Medved_77]

I'm a bit surprised with the video 2 . When connected to my Tesla wall charger at home or to a Supercharger, I can't put in drive mode and got a message with the Model S.

In this case there's no one in the car, the car is not in drive, the car slides away from its parking spot whilst in park.

 

[javadude]

It's perhaps because of Regelation. Pressure reduces the melting point: Regelation - Wikipedia

 

[jaguar36]

Its people with summer tires not understanding how poor they are in the snow/ice. Nothing to do with Tesla, beyond them shipping summer tires on the Performance versions (like many other manufactures do)

 

[Bernard_S]

Any car would do that in those conditions. Loose snow on shiny ice = zero grip.

 

[pgkevet]

My wife just came up with the solution to this problem;

Put it into dog mode and tell it to stay

 

[drtimhill]

It's perhaps because of Regelation. Pressure reduces the melting point: Regelation - Wikipedia

Very unlikely .. it used to be thought regelation was what made ice skates work (it isnt), but you need a lot of pressure and a lot of time for it to work at all, science class demos notwithstanding

This looks to me like simple friction issues. You have a heavy car, but tires with pretty high pressure (means low tire area in contact with ground). The OP didn't state conditions or driveway angle, but for a lot of these videos the road angle looked pretty steep (and videos can often make slopes look much flatter than they are). Any car will slide under the right circumstances, just go look around on YouTube.

 

[Tony Hoyle]

I can't help thinking in the video applying a bit of physics might have helped him.. he was braking with no grip.. that's not going to help. Best to let the wheels roll and hope there's enough grip left to direct the car down the middle of the road.

Whether there was any way of salvaging it at the bottom though..

 

[Silicon Desert]

So theyre not rolling away, they're sliding away?

yes, isn't that what OP said. It's something I would never do up here

 

[Medved_77]

yes, isn't that what OP said.

Not originally

I edited the OP once the inaccurate nomenclature was highlighted.

 

[Advocate]

This might be a stupid question but…

Is it safe to park on an incline BEFORE it snows and then snows while the car is parked?

 

[Lord Farquad]

This might be a stupid question but…

Is it safe to park on an incline BEFORE it snows and then snows while the car is parked?

Yes, the snow will accumulate around the tyres but the car shouldn’t move. However your stuck until the snow clears.

Happened to me in a BMW E46 330i years ago in Dudley. Car was marooned on a steep hill for an entire weekend before I could recover it!