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Science & Technology
Angry Tesla Owners Share Videos of Their Cars Failing to Work in the Cold
2022-12-30
[Breitbart] Angry Tesla owners have been sharing videos of their vehicles refusing to start during the massive winter storm that impacted both the United States and Canada.

The Daily Mail reports that numerous Tesla owners have reported being unable to access their vehicles due to frozen door handles during a severe winter storm in Canada and the United States. Rachel Modestino, a meteorologist from Ontario, experienced this issue firsthand on December 23 when temperatures reached a low of 5º F and her car’s door latch failed to function.

Modestino’s situation gained significant attention on social media, as a video she posted of her struggle with the frozen door handle has garnered over 10.1 million views on Twitter. In the tweet accompanying the video, Modestino quipped, "Bet ya didn’t think of ice in the Tesla design." The video shows the Tesla partially covered in ice, highlighting the severity of the winter storm.
Posted by:Besoeker

#17  You know, maybe we should ask the federal government to assemble a blue-ribbon panel to research some sort of car propulsion system that will work in the cold weather?
Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839   2022-12-30 18:21  

#16  re:#4


18 to 36 holes, carrying 2 golf bags. That's what a caddy did.
Posted by: AlanC   2022-12-30 15:17  

#15  
An icicle must have got into the works.
Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol
Posted by: Gromble Dribble4342   2022-12-30 13:21  

#14  A great many NON-EVs have electrically operated door handles, too. Those can fail to operate in the exact same way those Tesla door handles have done. Zero publicity, of course, is given to those ICE driven vehicle exceptions.
I bought a 2023 Kia Carnival, which will probably be the last car I ever buy. It is standard ICE driven with all the electrically operated, encoded, restrictive and handy dandy options one could desire.
The Kia user's manual is 100s of pages long. I'm slowly, slowly going through it and finding all the "Easter eggs" the Kia's designers have flawed the system with.
One such flaw is, of course, the door latching mechanism. The battery driven key fob, when brought close to the front door, causes a light to go on at the door latch, signalling the latch's readiness to open. The trick is to then press the tiny black button on the latch, then pull back on the latch to open the door. If the key fob malfunctions in any way, this cannot happen. This new possible malfunction is in addition to the oldest possible malfunction, which would simply be an icicle getting into the works.
The key fob (which costs $450 to replace) has a hidden brass key inside its case (said key costing $110 to replace as a single item). This brass key is the only standard physical way to getting inside the Kia when all else fails.
A unnecessarily complex way to expose the slot on the driver's side door can then be used to allow the brass key to open the driver's door the old fashioned way. If an icicle is not at fall, the door can then be opened with the brass key.
Due to a lifetime's worth of experience, including the loss of similar security keys, I now wear the brass key to my Kia Carnival on a stainless steel chain around my neck, along with a spare key for my other vehicle. That brass Kia key can't be used to start the vehicle, the remainder of the fob being still necessary for that. But at least I would be able to get inside and ease the grip of Mother Nature endangering my physical existence in this season of our discontent.
Posted by: Gromble Dribble4342   2022-12-30 13:16  

#13  None of this is new or surprising, but I notice there's more reporting about Tesla problems lately. Could it be that all of a sudden the media powers that be don't like the owner?
Posted by: James   2022-12-30 12:55  

#12  I would deride them if I had not subsidized the entire endeavor.
Posted by: Super Hose   2022-12-30 12:01  

#11  You gonna learn some physics and laws of thermodynamics today
Posted by: DarthVader   2022-12-30 10:12  

#10  
Posted by: M. Murcek   2022-12-30 09:26  

#9  I don't have a Tesla but my car's door handles freeze, too. Damned hard to thaw them when it's 3 degrees.
Posted by: Deacon Blues   2022-12-30 09:08  

#8  This too shall pass.
Posted by: Besoeker   2022-12-30 08:13  

#7  Hard to borrow a can of 'battery'.
Posted by: Skidmark   2022-12-30 08:07  

#6  Notice the emphasis on Tesla? What other EV performed as normal during the cold?
Posted by: Procopius2k   2022-12-30 06:14  

#5  Aah yes, golf carts. Them too.
Posted by: Dron66046   2022-12-30 05:51  

#4  Electric golf cart with nicer seats and bodywork. I grew up walking 18-36 holes a day, so I'm underwhelmed.
Posted by: M. Murcek   2022-12-30 05:50  

#3  I just drove an EV yesterday. These things're like grown up versions of toys!
Posted by: Dron66046   2022-12-30 05:49  

#2  Oh, our green "betters" were lied to. Or ignorant. Or swallowed the propaganda whole.

Yes, yes, I know that thing about and...
Posted by: M. Murcek   2022-12-30 05:03  

#1  ....Y'know what?

I got zero sympathy for these folks. If I'm going to spend Tesla-level bucks on new technology, you can bet I'm going to investigate the hell out of it first, and that includes cold-weather issues.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski   2022-12-30 04:53  

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