Why Tesla's Are Not Made for All Weather Types

by Mya Miller
Lion’s Roar Staff

While Tesla’s can be spotted all over the West Coast it is more rare to see a Tesla on the East Coast, and there is
a reason for that.
In 2003 Tesla was founded by Elon Musk, in Palo Alto, California, located on the West Coast of America. It is
an electronic car brand that is reliant on energy chargers.
Tesla was thought to be the perfect new world saving car, but Tesla owners are starting to open up about real
issues with the Tesla in certain climates, such as the East Coast.
One issue is with opening a Tesla door in the snow. While normal car handles protrude to make them easy to pull
open, the Tesla has a sleek handle that is embedded within the door. In order to open the car door the owner has to
push on the handle so it can open. But, most times on the East Coast in the winter Tesla car doors seem to freeze
with ice covering over the handles. So, many Tesla owners cannot open their doors to get into their Tesla. East Coast
Tesla owners have been known to use a heater, hair dryer, or hot water to try and get their handle to be functional.
The main reason that customers buy a Tesla is to help their environment with the electrical aspect of the car. The
Tesla is reliant on energy chargers, and if the owner does not have a garage to store their Tesla charging port then
they are going to have some difficulty getting their car to charge. If it is below freezing outside, which it gets all
throughout the winter on the East Coast, then the Tesla will not be able to charge at all. The Tesla first, needs to
defrost in order to be charged. But, how does a Tesla defrost if it is dead? Tesla owners are going to need a bigger
blow dryer.
Another advantage to getting a Tesla is that it has a self drive feature. This is not something that much of the East
Coast can take advantage of when it snows. The Tesla is unable to go into self driving mode. In order for a Tesla to
self-drive it needs to see the road using microchip lanes. But, snow and ice on the roads disable Tesla’s microchips.
Some Tesla owners had to learn about this the hard way.
It also seems that the colder the weather, the faster it uses up its energy, and the sooner the owner needs to find a
charging port. Greg Less, Ph.D, technical director at the UM Battery Lab in Ann Arbor, Michigan explained this
problem to Forbes magazine, “Ions are traveling inside of the battery between the positive and negative electrodes
through a liquid electrolyte. As it gets colder, the liquid becomes thicker, now closer to freezing solid. So the ions
move more slowly, which causes more resistance. The more the resistance goes up, the faster you lose power.” He
explained that the battery must be kept warm, and while the temperature drop can be resolved, the loss of mileage
cannot.
Teslas that are not garaged often have problems with mice. The wires under the car are environmentally safe, but
are also made out of soybeans. Mice are chewing through the bottoms of the Tesla into the inside. One Tesla owner,
according to the New York Post, claimed that she opened up her glove compartment to have a rodent fall out of it
onto her car floor. On top of that Tesla is not covering the repairs, so she had to pay $5,000 on a $60,000 car.
Tesla is a very hyped up car brand, but is that just a coverup so no one gets to hear about the car’s weather
issues?