Online influencers have been critical to the success of many products on the market today, and none more so than Tesla. Online creators love to show off the car and its features, which helped propel Elon Musk into the spotlight as our first influential CEO. But now that it's winter, some influencers are noticing that their Teslas aren't doing too well in freezing conditions.
One of the first things people notice about electric cars is how quiet they are due to the lack of a combustion engine. But in a TikTok trending titled "Things I Hate About My Tesla," Tesla Flex user shared how difficult it is to clean the glass out of the front of the car since there's no heat energy from under the hood.
Another Tesla influencer who passes Jay Fay on TikTok also expressed his frustration with the cleaning of the hood and headlights, as well as the wheel arches, which accumulate ice from a lack of waste. thermal energy.
Frameless windows on cars like some Subarus and BMWs can stick more easily in winter weather because many of them have to retract when opened – and that's no different in a Tesla.
Tesla influencer Kristen Netten posted a timelapse video on Twitter about how preconditioning the car from the app can take some of the stress out of cleaning. Unfortunately, the same feature does not help freezing flush door handles on all Tesla models – as demonstrated by Tesla Lord on TikTok.
Cars ill-equipped for winter can struggle to climb snow-covered hills, and HolaSeattle on TikTok explained how the Model Y is unable to catch up to it on a steep street. It is not clear if the car was equipped with winter tires, but it would certainly be a prerequisite for climbing a road like this.
In my first two years of owning a Model 3, I had no problems in the cold, but that's because my apartment had underground parking. After that I learned a thing or two about how to deal with a Tesla in the cold.
Here are some tips to lessen the pain of owning a Tesla in places not called California:
Adjust your mirrors so they don't fold automatically when locked . I like that the car folds the side mirrors by default when parking. It protects it from people knocking on it and also provides a good indication that the car is locked. The problem in winter is that it can freeze and that requires risky de-icing with a scraper. The mirrors themselves have heaters, but it would have been nice if the gaskets had them too. So disable the "auto-fold when locked" setting.
Photo by Umar Shakir / Means I/O
Periodically brush snow from the headlights and hood throughout the snowfall. There's no thermal heat wasting the engine, but it does mean the bonnet and headlights will simply ice cap, affecting visibility in the dark and preventing access to the frunk. Avoid this by periodically brushing the headlights and hood. And please avoid using a metal shovel.
Get a set of winter tires. Having winter tires on a rear wheel drive Tesla like mine gives you better control in the snow than an AWD Tesla without winter tires. It's easier to have two sets of rims with summer tires and dedicated winter tires (like the Michelin X-Ice or the Pirelli Winter Sottozero 3) pre-mounted and balanced so you can swap wheels yourself when the season changes.
Depending on your needs, you could also opt for all-season tires. Some may be good for summer temperatures like the Michelin Pilot Sport AS, and some may be fine in mild winter conditions like the Continental ExtremeContact. Personally, I have the Michelin CrossClimate 2s mounted on stock 18-inch Aero rims right now. But be aware that many outlets like Costco are no longer installing them on Teslas due to a speed rating change. (Please do your own research before going this route; your tire warranty could be invalidated.)
By the way, if you have a performance Model 3 or Model Y, you can have summer tires on it. Please change them if you are in a cold climate (although it seems Tesla now ships them with all-season tires).
Set the wipers to service mode before snowfall. It's common to raise your windshield wipers before it snows, but it's easy to forget about a Tesla's windshield wipers since they hide in the hood.
Keep car plugged in and schedule preconditioning/charging . When Teslas are plugged in and charged, they use AC power to preheat the car and battery — which can melt snow off glass, precondition the motor, and give you better range with a warmer battery. If you schedule both the departure time and the charging time (via the Tesla app), you can automatically preheat the car before leaving and also run it on the back end so the plug is warmer and less likely to be frozen in port.
Be patient when opening and closing doors. After pre-conditioning your car (and the app notifies you that it's at the desired temperature), the windows should no longer be stuck to the rubber seals of the door, allowing it to be opened safely because it should back off a bit. The handles are not heated, so carefully remove the ice and press down on the handle pivot with your thumbs until it pops out. Try to clear the crevices of the handle so that it does not immediately get stuck again.
Use Summon to pull your Tesla out of a snow fort. I added this because I did this recently:after shoveling my driveway, I got a lot of snow on the Tesla and wanted to clean it. The handles and doors were still frozen so I had the car roll over the snow fort...then shoveled it without risk of scratching the car. In the movement, it also dropped more snow.
And last, but definitely not least:Set the right reach expectations because a cold battery risks losing part of its charge. Yes, doing the math is better (calculate how many watt-hours per mile the car does on average and divide that by your battery size), but the car does it for you on the fly. The problem is that the car will not know immediately at the start of the trip how many freeway miles it will cover in sub-zero temperatures. While you may see a range on your car near or above 300 miles, expect it to be more like 240 miles (in my experience) when driving over 65 mph.
The colder it gets, the worse it gets:On a 700-mile trip I took from Baltimore to Chicago in December 2018, my Model 3 averaged 450 Wh per mile in 15 degrees Fahrenheit (-9.4 degrees Celsius) cold just outside of Pittsburgh, making the effective range 167 miles (75kWh battery in my 2018 long range Model 3) and added a extra charging stop at trip.
Electric cars are finally emerging from the niche vehicle market as more people realize the benefits and share their experiences online. Influencers love to promote their fashionable lifestyles and shopping to millions of people. So it was only a matter of time before they chose electric cars like Teslas. Hopefully these tips will save current and future owners – and influencers – from new-car frostbite when going all-electric.
