61 Replies to “We Don’t Need No Frozen Sparky Cars”

  1. His Virtue Signal is burned out. I hear Musk is at the gigafactory trying to source a replacement.

  5. I live in Australia, where, if you are not being incinerated in a bushfire, you may be washed away in a flood, or have a cyclone blow your house into kindling, or the last two in combination. (See also: eaten by a dingo, crocodile or feral pig)

    Vancouver in summer is about as cold as it gets most places. Any snow is just set dressing for the ski-bunnies and tourists in what pass for “Alps” around here.

    However, from conversations with refugees from Alberta, I understand that “conventional” cars there need to be kept warm, via “block heaters’ and suchlike, so that the thing might actually start and run when you need it.

    I guess if you park your “Pious” out in the street, for a bit of “virtue signalling”, at the height of Winter and then leave it under a couple of metres of snow for a day, the batteries may struggle a bit.

    1. I even park my old F-150 in the garage, as the temp is 10 degrees warmer from house heat then outside temps. Never have to plug it in, even at the few times it’s been -30 C outside. I don’t use my garage for much storage, that’s what basements are for.

      Besides, if you leave your vehicle outside, it gets “tampered” with. Lots of that going on around here.

  6. Just think, in a few years we will all be driving (half the distance) these.

    The trouble with electric vehicles – winter

    It was a surprise to collect a full-charged Chevrolet Bolt test vehicle from General Motors last week and see that its driving range registered as 203 kilometres. This is the completely electric compact car that Chevy says “offers an estimated range of up to 383 kilometres on a full charge.”

    The temperature outside was -10 C. I drove the 65 km home, plugged the Bolt in right away then sent a note to GM. It’s well known that electric cars are affected by the cold, but half the range in sub-zero weather? Half? I asked if something might be wrong. . .

    1. I admit to a bit of a chuckle at this bit:

      I stopped for coffee in Port Hope. There’s a Tesla supercharger station at a Tim Hortons with a bank of 720-Volt chargers, exclusive to only Teslas, but only one was able to charge: the others were blocked by a tanker-truck that was parked while the driver found some breakfast.

      I wonder if he wondered if the blocking was deliberate.

  7. One of the issues being complained about could be seen coming, by lots of us, a long time ago: door handles. An electric door handle that requires a specific program, and (apparently) the occasional software upgrade, in order to operate properly is merely adding successive and unnecessary complexity and points of failure. The door handles on my 1969 Dart (build date 12/68) work just fine. This is a car that’s never been restored. Tesla added electronic door handles not because they were better or less costly to manufacture and install, but because THEY COULD.
    D.U.M.B.

  9. Basic knowledge or experience with some combination of automobiles, batteries, and winter would have obviated most of this new outrage. That it didn’t is kind of a sign that the virtue-signalling and bandwagon-jumping was a more powerful motivator.

  10. What did they think was going to happen when their virtue signaling stopped global warming?

    Hahahaha! 🙂

    1. Have you not noticed that America and Canada have become one continuous episode of South Park. It would be very funny if it were not so tragic.

  12. What is annoying is there is ‘free charging’. WTF? Plus they are not contributing to road maintenance (which is done with the excise gas tax). Oh, and the mileage went down substantially when the temp went to -18 C. That’s a nice, relatively mild winter day in northwestern ON or Winterpeg. What happens when the high for the day is -30 C, the overnight low -40C ?

    1. You collect them on the highway between Medicine Hat and Brooks, as climate refugees. Or, if venturesome, between Barrie and Parry Sound. North of that I’ll bet there isn’t even a charging station.

  13. Now remember that it is the goal of the BC government that all cars sold in 2040 will be electric. (one link, as an example)

    https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/bc-zero-emission-vehicle-sales-2040

    To aid in the endeavor, the BC government is subsidizing sales by $57 million for this calendar year. In Q3 of 2018, 2,389 EVs were sold in BC as opposed to the total autos sold in the province of 54,599 (Stats Can for September, October, and November – no stats of December yet) or 4.28% of all vehicles sold. And if subsidies are dropped, then sales also drop correspondingly. So going from 4.28% to 100% in 20+ years is a fool’s dream and very expensive for the taxpayer. I, for one, do not want to subsidize anyone’s purchase, regardless of the product.

    1. With the coming ban on natural gas planned for the Lower Mainland, they better beef up their electric grid for the added loads.

      1. The so-called “ban on natural gas” isn’t a Lower-Mainland-wide thing — it’s just the idiot brainchild of Vancouver’s previous Mayor Moonbeam. Most of the restos in Van went apesh*t when they heard of this plan, since it would effectively shutter their kitchens. Haven’t heard much about it lately (and they won’t be able to do it anyways).

      2. It’s just more virtue signalling.
        There is not enough power carrying capacity to charge an all electric fleet.
        A new suburb of say a 100 houses might all have 200 amp service but the current carrying capacity to that sub division has not been sized to provide 200amps per house 24/7.
        Essentially a typical subdivision cannot support all electric fleets.

      3. Beef up the grid? No the left prefers brownouts and blackouts. That will control demand.

        They will also want 2 or 3 families to share a house or apartment. Less need for heating.

    2. All EVs should have to pay road taxes based on miles driven per year (like gas vehicles do) and they should be charged an environmental fee for lithium and cobalt mine clean ups.

      And yes….get rid of all subsidies for these rolling environmental travesties.

  15. If you only own one car and live in a winter climate, a Tesla is NOT the car for you.

    Tesla has done plenty of cold weather testing and know damn well that frigid temperatures severely reduce range. It is the same for all manufacturers, that is simply the reality of batteries. My first instinct is to blame the salespeople for not properly disclosing these facts to buyers, however my experience also tells me that when you put a shiny object in front of some people, their ears close right up.

    From what I have witnessed of Musk, he loves to overstate the positives and mislead about the negatives of his products. I can imagine that Tesla staff were instructed by Musk to downplay the severity of the battery loss. I also understand that Musk has made similar such demands of his sales staff in the past.

    1. CO, I worked in the auto industry for a few years, and a barn full of bulls can’t compete with some of the car sales dicks

    2. Imagine, ever since batteries were first produced it was common knowledge that cold reduced their effectiveness. Are people getting dumber? Don’t answer that I already know.

  19. Well, not “junk” — but certainly not zero-impact either. Electrics have their place (and with their screamingly high torque, they can be hugely fun to drive), but they’re not the panacea their fanbois claim.

  20. “My biggest concern …”

    Should be that taxpayers were forced to pay thousands of dollars for your virtue signaling device, you dip$hit.

  21. I bought a tesla 3 not because it’s saving the globe, nope, I found it to be a wonderful car to drive. It really is something special.
    I like gas cars, I don’t believe in global warming, I don’t think EVs are the answer to anything other than to those whose driving needs are met by it.
    If you can afford it and don’t drive long miles in the icy north give it a try.

  22. I think the word Tesla should be used a substitute for another word, as in I am so Teslaed, What the Tesla, that was Teslaing awesome dude. Anyone buying a Tesla has been Teslaed. You get the drift.

  23. It’s 0 here in Vancouver.
    While on a shopping errand just now, there was a Tesla at a 4-way stop. Single occupant, Asian lady.
    The front passenger window was all the way down.
    It looked odd.
    Then I remembered this thread. Frozen wide open I guessing.

    1. Or faulty switch, or bad tracking of the window … with the sketchy quality control of Tesla … it could be caused by any of a myriad of sources. However I am guessing she threw you a disdainful glance of social superiority regardless.

  24. Anyone who lives in a zip code with a colder average annual temperature than 62 deg.F … and buys a Tesla … and expects to drive it in the winter … has gotz shitz fer brains.

  25. There was a a web site last year that encouraged electric car owners who were going on a trip from say, Winnipeg to Calgary, to dress in warm winter clothes (IE; Snowmobile suits) instead of utilizing the battery powered heater, seat and steering warmers etc. The following article reiterates what I write. (There are many like this one.)
    https://driving.ca/tesla/auto-news/news/314908

    Electric motors do not produce enough heat to warm the interior of the vehicle in sub zero weather, that also greatly diminishes the range of the batteries.

    I have a plan. Go to Canadian Tire, buy a 7 HP gen set, install it in the trunk where it can power two 1500 watt heaters to keep the interior warm. It can also recharge the batteries when your sparky car stalls on the highway 15 miles west of Maple Creek.

    1. I like that you left out the part where they’ll need to cut a hole to vent the gases so they don’t asphyxiate.

  26. Funny thing,

    last week on facebook someone was trying to convince me electric cars stuck in traffic last for a very long time, longer than gas cars

    I said no they don t.

    I did not know the numbers by heart so I did a quick google search
    it turns out,

    a electric Golf loses at least 39 %

    a tesla loses at least 19 %

    and some models like Nissan lose over 50% – yes OVER 50 % – of the battery because of the cold weather and because while sitting in traffic you use the battery to heat a heating element to push hot air in the car so you will not freeze

    if you also use the heated seats, the radio and a few other things, you lose even more of the battery

    can you imagine if half of your gas tank was gone SIMPLY because it is minus 25 Celcius?

    Neither can I

    Electric cars are not made for Canadian winter unless you only drive them about 3 – 4 miles from your home

    1. so the vehicle uses twice as much stored electric power in the winter months…not so efficient, eh?

  28. So you’re telling me that a battery operated car built in California by a South African isn’t suitable for winter driving? Hang on, I know my shocked face is around here somewhere.

    Since the Tesla can be plugged in overnight and is controlled by a computer, why can’t it be preheated so the windows are not frozen to the seals in the morning? The windshield and windows could be de-iced and the steering wheel and seat(s) preheated as well using power from the grid instead of the battery.

    Many European carmakers test their vehicles in Finland in the winter. Where is Tesla’s cold weather test facility?

    1. You are too smart for Tesla

      Unless the grid can’t handle heating the seats and the battery……Just my 2 cents. If everyone had a Tesla…..The grid could not handle all the free unicorn power.

      But an excellent obsvervation

    2. The Tesla door handles tend to get stuck when it is cold

      it seems Tesla never tested the car in cold conditions

      1. In a related story … ALL government testing, Consumer Reports testing, Road and Track Testing, et.al. found Tesla to be THE GREATEST CAR EVER PRODUCED. It “tested” OFF THE CHARTS! The very BEST of ALL TIME!!

        Yeah, and I’m hung like a racehorse.

  29. If I had a well heated garage, and all I needed a car for was to go to work, 15 mins away, where I had indoor heated parking, and I had a 6 figure salary, a Tesla would probably make sense.

    I wonder if the fuel heater from a Corvair could be salvaged and fitted into a Tesla… Didn’t the VW beetle, the original air cooled rear engine one, also have a gasoline powered heater? Build a fondue into the center console, and your winter heating trouble will be taken car of!

    Maybe an old cast iron coal burner, chimney hole in the roof… One of those tiny wood stoves they use in ice fishing shacks…

    https://bramclassauto.com/services/products-for-sale/south-wind-gas-heaters/

    1. Nope. The survival book says “carry a candle or two” if stuck in the ditch in winter. Put it in a little holder, light it to warm the interior while you drive your Prius. Simple. Candle light driving. Don’t worry about the smoke, you’re smoking a doobie while you drive. Everybody is doing it.

  32. remember when ‘JIT’ ‘just-in-time’ inventory mgmt was all the rage? pointing to Japan as the successful model.
    and immediately, willfully and in a calculated manner, IGNORING the fact in Canadistan, temperatures and road conditions
    get crappy and distances are vastly greater.
    people buy into some really goofy and untested stuff.
    what’s tesla stock doing?

Proudly powered by WordPress & Skyrocket Themes

MENU

Navigation