Photo Illustration by Kelly Caminero / The Daily Beast
It’s been a cold week in the U.S. with more than 150 million Americans living under a wind chill warning due to dangerously freezing temperatures. While the weather has resulted in infrastructure, public health, and even voting issues, it’s also impacting a more surprising demographic: Tesla owners.
Drivers in Chicago have been experiencing long lines at Supercharging stations and, in some cases, completely dead vehicles as their cars struggle to cope with the frigid weather. Tow trucks have also been called in to deal with the Teslas that have occasionally been abandoned by their owners in the street after quickly losing power.
“I’ve been here for over five hours at this point and I still have not gotten to charge my car,” Brandon Welbourne, a Chicago-area Tesla owner, told CBS Chicago. “The charge that should take 45 minutes has taken two hours.”