{"id":310529,"date":"2024-03-20T10:16:10","date_gmt":"2024-03-20T09:16:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=310529"},"modified":"2024-03-20T10:16:13","modified_gmt":"2024-03-20T09:16:13","slug":"unhappy-tesla-owner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=310529","title":{"rendered":"Unhappy Tesla Owner!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Paul Homewood<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This letter to the editor was printed in the Inverness Oran in Feb 2024. (Given the detail, I have no reason to believe it is not genuine):<\/p>\n\n\n\n

February 28, 2024<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dear Editor,<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am writing in response to a letter in the February 14th publication entitled, \u201cBenefits of Electric Vehicles.\u201d My husband and I drive a 2021 Long Range Tesla Model 3. My hope is to shed some light on what it is like living in Inverness County with an electric vehicle.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For a bit of context, I am not your run-of-the-mill naysayer. We\u2019ve been driving an EV for the last three years, we are organic farmers, we lived in a fully off-grid, solar powered home for eight years, and we attended that big Greta Thunberg inspired climate change march in Halifax back in 2019. I feel slightly embarrassed about sharing this so publicly because I truly feel that we got duped by clever and persuasive EV\/doomsday marketing. After reading Paul Strome\u2019s letter, featuring all those key marketing points, I felt compelled to write in. Here is our electric car experience:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

2021 \u2013 Rosy new car: Wow! This is great!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 The car was more expensive up front, but it only costs about $14 to \u201cfill the tank\u201d and we can conveniently charge with our Level 2 charger at home whenever we want. That will more than make up for the initial cost over time, considering the price of gas!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 No pesky oil changes and Tesla\u2019s titanium shield under the car means no repairs due to rust! Great \u2013 more savings!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 When going to Halifax, we need to recharge at the Enfield Supercharger. Recharging takes 18 minutes, but no big deal: bathroom break, stretch your legs, get a coffee; just minor adjustments to how we drove with a gas car.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not-so-nice realizations from year one:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 The undulating, electric hum while the car charges for seven hours permeates our entire home and yard. Is that healthy?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 Needing to exit the vehicle for 20 minutes at the Supercharger because it feels very unhealthy to be in such a high voltage environment while it\u2019s charging. Rain, shine, snow or sleet \u2013 Everybody out!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 Learning that every time you recharge the battery, the battery life decreases. It actually can damage the battery to charge to 100 per cent and it is advised that you don\u2019t charge more than 80 per cent for day-to-day use.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

2022 \u2013 One-year-old car:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 Can still make it to Sydney and back, but we shouldn\u2019t make many detours if we want to make it home again. Having to stop in Baddeck for two hours to \u201cjuice up\u201d just to make the 40-minute journey home doesn\u2019t make much sense\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 Can still make it to the Enfield Supercharger when going to Halifax, but no detours. Stick to the highway or else.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christmas 2023 \u2013 2.5-year-old car:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Heading to the Valley Christmas Eve (outside temperature is -5oC).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 \u201cI don\u2019t think we\u2019re going to make it to the Supercharger\u2026\u201d \u201cWhat the heck! We\u2019re definitely not going to make it!\u201d The whole family, plus two dogs, wandered around Truro for 1.5 hours, in the cold twilight while charging just enough to make it to the Enfield Supercharger.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 With everyone\u2019s spirits low, we wander around the Enfield Big Stop parking lot in the cold while the car charges for 35 minutes. Can\u2019t bring the dogs into Timmy\u2019s and staying in the car while it\u2019s charging feels like every hair on your body is getting charged up too.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 Charge up again at the New Minas Supercharger, just in case, because the wall plug at Grandma\u2019s takes days to charge the car and we can\u2019t believe how poorly the car is performing.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coming home after Christmas:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 Leave Middleton. Stop at the Supercharger in New Minas for 10 minutes to add some charge. Everyone out into the cold!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 Leave New Minas. Stop in Enfield to fully recharge for 35 minutes. Everybody out into the cold: Kids, dogs; everyone. It\u2019s windy and half raining\/half snowing. How wonderfully modern and convenient it is to drive an EV!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 Make it back home with six per cent. Phew!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

January 2024 \u2013 2.5-year-old car:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 10oC, but dropping, so range is dropping too.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 Husband arrives at Enfield Supercharger. Relief!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 Enfield supercharger is down. Neither the car nor Telsa phone app notified him; 9:00 p.m. on a Sunday. No indication of when\/if the charger will turn on again. Car is at three per cent. Not enough power to keep the heat on, let alone drive to a motel. Other EV drivers there are all cursing their cars and their decisions\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 After an hour of being stranded, the chargers come online again.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 60 minutes to recharge after going so low and it being so cold out. Two hours, stuck at the Enfield Big Stop!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

February 2024 (last week) \u2013 2.5-year-old car<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 We are driving home from the airport. I\u2019m driving my 2012 Toyota Matrix (680 km\/tank). I have to go pick up the dogs from the boarder, just outside Antigonish. It\u2019s too big of a detour for the \u201cLong Range\u201d Tesla to handle.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 Even with that detour, I make it home first. The Tesla took 60 minutes to charge in Enfield. It takes longer to charge a cold battery, but surely they should be home by now\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 My husband finally made it home. He crawled home, with the heat turned off, because he was trying to conserve power. Made it home with six per cent.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ve looked into it: There is nothing wrong with our car. This is just the natural diminishing of an EV battery over time, combined with fairly mild NS winter driving.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is what range anxiety looks like! It is not, as Paul Strome so kindly put it, \u201cfor those drivers who have trouble paying attention to their fuel gauge.\u201d Range anxiety means constantly paying attention to your fuel gauge and crossing your fingers and toes, hoping you\u2019re going to make it! It\u2019s leaving home with a \u201cfull tank\u201d to go 290 km and worrying about not arriving!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The February 14th letter features all of the dealership, government, and activist talking points. None of it is based on the real life experience of a rural EV owner. The \u201cofficial range\u201d of EVs is not based in reality. Only on the first day out of the factory (if it\u2019s sunny, with no wind, temps between 15-20oC, on a straight stretch road with no hills) would our car ever live up to its range expectations.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking as a former climate change activist and current EV driver, I can only see EVs working if you live in a big city and never plan on leaving that big city. The last thing we should be pushing for is to phase out internal combustion engine vehicles by 2035 in Canada. Yes, we absolutely have to take better care of our planet, but EVs make zero sense in the real world.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hilary Mueller<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mabou<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This letter to the editor was printed in the Inverness Oran in Feb 2024. (Given the detail, I have no reason to believe it is not genuine)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":310532,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691821977,691827717,691827716,691826884,691827718],"class_list":{"0":"post-310529","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-electric-vehicles-evs","9":"tag-new-minas-supercharger","10":"tag-recharge-the-battery","11":"tag-tesla-model-3","12":"tag-winter-driving","14":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/0-Long-Range-Tesla-Model-3.jpeg?fit=1280%2C720&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1iMx","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":294825,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=294825","url_meta":{"origin":310529,"position":0},"title":"Hertz sells off 20,000 electric cars as drivers stick with petrol","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"13\/01\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"US rental giant Hertz is selling off thousands of Teslas as weak demand forces it to replace 20,000 electric cars with petrol-powered vehicles.","rel":"","context":"In \"electric vehicles (EVs)\"","block_context":{"text":"electric vehicles (EVs)","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=electric-vehicles-evs"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/0hertz-teams-up-with-polestar-to-purchase-up-to-65000-electric-vehicles-over-five-years-185545_1.jpg?fit=1200%2C695&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/0hertz-teams-up-with-polestar-to-purchase-up-to-65000-electric-vehicles-over-five-years-185545_1.jpg?fit=1200%2C695&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/0hertz-teams-up-with-polestar-to-purchase-up-to-65000-electric-vehicles-over-five-years-185545_1.jpg?fit=1200%2C695&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/0hertz-teams-up-with-polestar-to-purchase-up-to-65000-electric-vehicles-over-five-years-185545_1.jpg?fit=1200%2C695&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/0hertz-teams-up-with-polestar-to-purchase-up-to-65000-electric-vehicles-over-five-years-185545_1.jpg?fit=1200%2C695&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":373501,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=373501","url_meta":{"origin":310529,"position":1},"title":"Put Up Gas Prices, Demand Net Zero\u00a0Zealots","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"03\/04\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Matt Oliver is the Telegraph\u2019s Industry Editor, so I am surprised he has fallen for this dishonest nonsense.","rel":"","context":"In \"Climate change\"","block_context":{"text":"Climate change","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=climate-change"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/0AA1xi4z3.jpeg?fit=1200%2C721&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/0AA1xi4z3.jpeg?fit=1200%2C721&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/0AA1xi4z3.jpeg?fit=1200%2C721&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/0AA1xi4z3.jpeg?fit=1200%2C721&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/0AA1xi4z3.jpeg?fit=1200%2C721&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":293828,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=293828","url_meta":{"origin":310529,"position":2},"title":"Elon Musk\u2019s Chinese rival toppled Tesla \u2013 now it\u2019s coming for Britain","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"05\/01\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"This week, it had the proof. 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