Photo: @chazman via Twitter
Tesla has sent a warning to owners in Florida two days before hurricane Ian is expected to hit the state. According to the message displayed on the infotainment screen, Tesla advises charging the battery to 100% before the storm messes up the electricity lines.
Electric vehicles are sometimes derided as not being “real cars” by ICE fans all over the world. They love bringing into focus extreme situations where there’s no electricity to power their cars. They forget that fuel pumps at gas stations also need electricity to work. Plus, there would be longer lines of vehicles waiting to refuel than those at charging stations in the case of an emergency.
Since most extreme phenomena, hurricanes included, can be predicted and taken into account, you’d expect that they should not get people unprepared. And yet this happens most every time. Tesla thought to nudge its customers to prepare for the situation, so it pushed a warning to Tesla screens in Florida ahead of hurricane Ian’s arrival. This is a nice touch, showing that someone at Tesla thinks beyond selling the car and the parts to customers.
“In the next 48 hours, a storm is forecast to make landfall in Florida and may impact power access at charging stations in the region,” writes the message. “We recommend charging your Tesla vehicle to 100 percent today to reduce the storm’s impact on your travel plans. You can review the live statuses and availability of Superchargers along the route by tapping the Supercharger pins on your vehicle’s touch screen.”
This is not the same time this happened, according to some Tesla owners who also received similar messages from Tesla on previous occasions. For instance, a couple of weeks back, when temperatures exceeded 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius), Tesla sent messages encouraging owners to charge overnight. This was meant to avoid peak demand hours from 4 to 9 pm.
Tesla has done more than that in the past to ease the situation for Tesla owners trying to escape from harm’s way. On several occasions, it pushed OTA updates to extend the usable battery capacity, making the cars go further on a charge. Sometimes, it even offered free Supercharger sessions to distressed owners. However, nothing of the sort has been yet announced for Floridians.
Since most extreme phenomena, hurricanes included, can be predicted and taken into account, you’d expect that they should not get people unprepared. And yet this happens most every time. Tesla thought to nudge its customers to prepare for the situation, so it pushed a warning to Tesla screens in Florida ahead of hurricane Ian’s arrival. This is a nice touch, showing that someone at Tesla thinks beyond selling the car and the parts to customers.
“In the next 48 hours, a storm is forecast to make landfall in Florida and may impact power access at charging stations in the region,” writes the message. “We recommend charging your Tesla vehicle to 100 percent today to reduce the storm’s impact on your travel plans. You can review the live statuses and availability of Superchargers along the route by tapping the Supercharger pins on your vehicle’s touch screen.”
This is not the same time this happened, according to some Tesla owners who also received similar messages from Tesla on previous occasions. For instance, a couple of weeks back, when temperatures exceeded 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius), Tesla sent messages encouraging owners to charge overnight. This was meant to avoid peak demand hours from 4 to 9 pm.
Tesla has done more than that in the past to ease the situation for Tesla owners trying to escape from harm’s way. On several occasions, it pushed OTA updates to extend the usable battery capacity, making the cars go further on a charge. Sometimes, it even offered free Supercharger sessions to distressed owners. However, nothing of the sort has been yet announced for Floridians.
Love that @Tesla gives these kind of tips and reminders! @elonmusk pic.twitter.com/9DzpxCyOUB
— Chuck Cook (@chazman) September 27, 2022
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