Thursday, March 28, 2024

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The Future of Electric? I’ll Pass!

Letters to the Editor 2019

By David Cusick, North Cape May

To the Editor: 
From an anonymous Wisconsin state trooper, a friend of mine: I’m not a fan of all-electric vehicles. Too many variables affect battery consumption. They’re definitely not suited for cold climates.
The following experience just cements my distaste for EVs, especially Teslas.
I got sent to a motorist assist the other day, at the start of our snowstorm. There was a Tesla on the side of the interstate with a dead battery. So, I arrive on the scene, and the occupants have the right front door open.
 They tell me that they can’t open any other doors because the battery is dead. Sure enough, can’t open the doors from inside or outside. The driver also can’t get her license out of the glove box where she put it during their trip because the glove box opens electronically… and the battery is dead. You actually have to use the computer in the center of the dash to open the glove box.
 They said they had 10% battery left, which should’ve been plenty to get from that location to the charging station nearby. Then, all of a sudden, the whole car shut off and they coasted to the shoulder.
 So now, I have to find them a tow. No one wants to tow EVs. Finally found one company to do it. Eight-mile trip to the charging station in Tomah. $1,000! A normal vehicle on the flatbed would’ve been $150.
 So now, we’re at the Tesla superchargers. Guess what? Can’t open the charging port because the battery is dead! The ports open, you guessed it, electronically! And we also can’t open the doors now (had to close the one open door when it was loaded onto the wrecker). The owner’s manual is in the onboard computer, but the battery is dead.
I got the occupants to a store where they’d be warm while calling the  rental company to figure out how to charge this thing, so I’m not sure  of the outcome. I had to leave for a crash report.
 EVs may be the way, someday, a few hundred years from now, but certainly not today! I’ll stick with my dinosaur burner.

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