Can Freezing Temperatures Block Tesla Charging? In any case, this is what a resident of Lynchburg, in eastern Virginia, says. To our colleagues fromInsider he confided his misadventure with his electric vehicle which occurred a few hours before Christmas.
“Charging has stopped completely”
Domenick Nati explains that he tried multiple times to recharge his Tesla Model S on Friday December 23, without success. While winter has been hitting for several days in the United States, it was only -7°C during its tests. Charged to 40% and connected to a Supercharger, the vehicle failed to gain even a few percent. “Two hours have passed and not much has changed. It was very slow and the numbers got lower and lower as the temperature dropped. Eventually the charging stopped completely”he explained.
After this first unsuccessful attempt, the man tried to recharge his car at home, without success. The driver tries again to charge his car on another Supercharger on December 24: another failure. During this last test, the terminal then displayed the following message: “The battery is getting hot – Keep the charging cable inserted.” Despite several hours of waiting for a charge to start, its battery life has not increased.
In order to document his experience, Domenick shared a video of his misadventure on TikTok.
The American did not fail to contact Tesla customer service, which could not have provided any answer to his problem. Solicited by Insiderthe manufacturer did not react to this testimony.
Tesla recommends using the Trip Planner
In his guide to “best practices in extreme cold”, Tesla distills advice to optimize charging during intense winter episodes. The manufacturer advises in particular to use the Trip Planner to avoid glitches.
“When you use Trip Planner (if available in your region) to travel to a Tesla charging location, Model 3 preheats the high-voltage battery to ensure that when you arrive at the charger, the battery will have reached optimum temperature and will be ready to charge. This reduces the time needed for recharging”details Tesla.
The company specifies that a use of 30 to 45 min is necessary for “guarantee the battery temperature and optimal charging conditions”.