During the Martin Luther King Day weekend, news in Chicago showed that some Tesla owners had to get their cars towed because they ran out of power while waiting for a charge at busy Supercharger stations.
WGN-TV in Chicago visited these stations and saw long lines and tow trucks, sometimes taking Tesla cars to owners' homes or other Supercharger stations.
An Uber driver, who wasn't identified, told WGN that he waited an hour for an open charger and then had to wait two hours for a full charge. The cold weather made his battery lose power quickly, so he had to charge twice a day while working as a ride-share driver.
The driver told the TV station, "I'm done with this Tesla after today. I'd rather go back to using gas."
Blame the weather
Some of the issues were beyond Tesla's control because electric vehicles (EVs) use more energy in cold weather, just like gasoline vehicles, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
The department says on its website that gas mileage is about 15 percent lower in freezing temperatures, and EV efficiency can drop by up to 40 percent, depending on how much energy is used to heat the cabin. Newer Tesla models have heat pumps that use less energy than traditional heaters.
There are fewer EV charging stations compared to gas stations, and charging takes longer in the cold because EV batteries need to be warm for fast charging.
Tesla recommends on its website warming the cabin and battery before leaving home, pre-conditioning the battery before arriving at a Supercharger, driving slower to save energy, and using seat heaters to stay warm instead of the cabin heater.
Brandon Welbourne, who spoke to the media after getting stranded, said his charging problem on Sunday was unexpected. He mentioned, "I've had my Model 3 for three Chicago winters and have never had to wait a minute, let alone five hours" at a Supercharger station.
Welbourne got stranded in Chicago without heat for five hours in negative 10-degree weather. Eventually, he arranged a tow for his Tesla but emphasized it was a one-time bad experience, and he still loves his Tesla.
A long commute
In a Fox News interview, Welbourne, wearing a black hoodie with the Tesla logo, explained his long commute from Indiana to work in Illinois. Normally, he can make the round-trip without using public chargers.
After work on Sunday, he realized he needed to stop at a Supercharger because he didn't have enough battery power left to make it home. The Tesla navigation directed him to a Supercharger in Evergreen Park, Ill., but only five of the 10 stalls were working, and four working stalls were blocked by empty cars. This left one charger for a long line of people waiting to use it.
"You're supposed to pre-condition your battery when you're on your way to the chargers, so it charges faster," he told Fox News. "Well, when you're sitting in the cold and waiting two, three, four, five hours like me, you can't precondition it. So it's like a double-edged sword. Not only are there no chargers available, it's taking longer to charge."