Supercharger failure - Oak Brook Mall (dead Teslas?)

[Teetoogrn]

Bad Tesla press in the Chicago area as several news outlets are running a story of many dead Teslas and unhappy owners at the Oak Brook Mall Supercharger where apparently some chargers must have been down, but the cars were telling drivers to go there for a charge. I know it’s very cold in Chicago this week (-4 degrees Fahrenheit). I can’t believe the cars would send folks to disabled superchargers and not show the number of chargers available.

 

[alexgr]

Something is really fishy with that story. Tesla supercharging station packed in Oak Brook, dead cars line parking lot due to frigid temps

 

[Sophias_dad]

C'mon man.. 30 seconds on plugshare.com finds a half dozen decent L2 chargers and several EVgo chargers within a few miles of the Oak Brook Mall. I also see another dozen or so L3 chargers nearby, although they don't seem to be true superchargers they have Tesla connectors.

 

[alexgr]

C'mon man.. 30 seconds on plugshare.com finds a half dozen decent L2 chargers and several EVgo chargers within a few miles of the Oak Brook Mall. I also see another dozen or so L3 chargers nearby, although they don't seem to be true superchargers they have Tesla connectors.

100% agree. If I were local and need to charge with no charging at home and see problems with superchargers, I'd drive to any other charger (even EA), I have a CCS to NACS adapter btw.

 

[scurtis]

unfortunately w/ EVs you still need to think on your feet if stuff goes sideways.

 

[jsight]

100% agree. If I were local and need to charge with no charging at home and see problems with superchargers, I'd drive to any other charger (even EA), I have a CCS to NACS adapter btw.

Some are suspecting a city utility issue. If that's the case, it may be that those aren't working well either.

 

[TomServo]

And I woke up this morning and Fox News is running this story about every 20 minutes. This will be the gift that keeps giving the anti-EV folks all the ammo they need.

Tesla needs to respond ASAP whatever the answer is.

 

[Rusty1]

Maybe there were other chargers nearby, but we need to know what was wrong with this charger. With all the negative news, Tesla has to release something.

 

[ahardfsu]

And I woke up this morning and Fox News is running this story about every 20 minutes. This will be the gift that keeps giving the anti-EV folks all the ammo they need.

Tesla needs to respond ASAP whatever the answer is.

Yeah I saw that same news blurb on the Fox News box on the Youtube TV 4 channel news multiview. I was OMG, here we go with another story that will be used by some to imply that EVs are bad. I don't own a Tesla, but I want to see EVs advance.

 

[ahardfsu]

C'mon man.. 30 seconds on plugshare.com finds a half dozen decent L2 chargers and several EVgo chargers within a few miles of the Oak Brook Mall. I also see another dozen or so L3 chargers nearby, although they don't seem to be true superchargers they have Tesla connectors.

Yep. I would have used Plugshare to see what I could find.

 

[ahardfsu]

unfortunately w/ EVs you still need to think on your feet if stuff goes sideways.

This is true and I think some people forget that.

 

[texas_star_TM3]

And I woke up this morning and Fox News is running this story about every 20 minutes. This will be the gift that keeps giving the anti-EV folks all the ammo they need.

Tesla needs to respond ASAP whatever the answer is.

they fired the entire PR department because they are "useless"...

i have a hard time understanding the story though and after reading reddit reports... it makes even less sense. Who in their right mind runs their battery down to low single digits in -10F and then limps to the nearest SC for a charge without any juice for a diversion or to go to a different charger?

 

[LarryClay]

Common sense failure mode.

 

[drift]

Common sense failure mode.

There are a some people who have no business owning an electric car at this time. If you can't preheat your battery you can't supercharge at these temps.

 

[texas_star_TM3]

There are a some people who have no business owning an electric car at this time. If you can't preheat your battery you can't supercharge at these temps.

or like one guy on reddit who apparently got stuck at the Chicago site SC with a dead battery after he drove ~120 miles and then decided with just 3% SoC that he needed a charge. In -12F weather. Not exactly a scenario I would be pushing the envelope with a LFP battery.

if you have 10% of battery left you have plenty of juice to pre-condition the battery, heat the cabin up nicely and even divert to another charger if needed....

 

[Teetoogrn]

or like one guy on reddit who apparently got stuck at the Chicago site SC with a dead battery after he drove ~120 miles and then decided with just 3% SoC that he needed a charge. In -12F weather. Not exactly a scenario I would be pushing the envelope with a LFP battery.

if you have 10% of battery left you have plenty of juice to pre-condition the battery, heat the cabin up nicely and even divert to another charger if needed....

Remember, some of these are people of the land, the common clay of the new west…you know, Morons!

 

[outdoors]

I am wondering how many of these cars needed to sit there for an hour or so to get up to speed. Super cold soaked, and at very low SOC.
Are we sure the power was truly off, or the people were pulling like 7kW and thought it was broken and gave up. Up in Manitoba a couple times I couldn't charge at night, and it took a gosh darn long time before I was cruising with a good charge rate. Like over 30 min.

 

[SunnylandY]

If you put a driver that's only ever driven automatics in a manual the results are usually comical. While the analogy is strained EVs are similar in that they are not idiot proof, and there a f***ton of idiots out there.

 

[outdoors]

If you put a driver that's only ever driven automatics in a manual the results are usually comical. While the analogy is strained EVs are similar in that they are not idiot proof, and there a f***ton of idiots out there.

Not sure if it is idiot, but people that live in apartments or condo's that don't have charging. I am seeing plenty of charging around the clock at superchargers in the states with the deep freeze. This might be one's first experience in cold soaking. We all aren't experts yet. A growing concern of learning EV owners. Let's teach not throw stones.

One time my mobile connecter could be picked up and the cord was so frozen it became a straight wire not coil-able. That was -30 actual. I brought it into the hotel to thaw.

 

[outdoors]

So maybe something to think about. I know ICE drivers and others fill gas tanks prior to storms. Maybe an EV driver takes it a bit outside of normal routine to add an extra 20-30% beyond what they normally do. Being prepared in any scenario is a good idea. Not just a car thing.

I got hammered at the beginning of winter back in our house in the Midwest. Power out for 6 days. Charging two EV's at slow rates off generator is humorous, but taught me a lesson. Charge up not just the powerwall before a storm.

In the winter as I travel across Montana and Wyoming I often charge up much much extra as I have spent many a night in a truck stop with nothing but a sleeping bag a downloaded movie. Not by choice.

We all learn via learned behaviors. EV's aren't one that has been ingrained yet.