Cold Snaps, Scarce Chargers: The Winter Reality of EV owners
There is roughly 3.2 million EVs on the road in America and there is 1 charging port available for every 22 EVs
What are EVs?
EVs or Electric Vehicles are gaining prominence in the global market. While there are three main types of EVs—Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs), Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs), and Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles (FCEVs)—we will focus on BEVs. These vehicles are powered solely by an electric motor, which draws energy from a rechargeable battery pack.
These vehicles can be recharged by connecting to an external power source and the process is simple: with a compatible charger, the vehicle is plugged into an electrical outlet, allowing the battery to draw electrical energy from the grid, replenishing the charge needed to operate the car.
Why are we seeing more EVs?
Figure 1: Graph of EV Sales in the US from 2010-2023
We can see that EV sales have increased over the years, but most rapidly in the last 3-4 years, where the number of vehicles sold since 2020 has increased fourfold. We are seeing more EVs being purchased by American citizens as a result of increasing models being rolled out by car companies, as well as incentives by the government such as the Clean Vehicle Credit, State and Local rebates, HOV lane access, toll discounts and Zero Emissions Vehicle programs to encourage people to buy EVs.
Adding onto this, EVs "produce roughly half the global warming pollution than a comparable gasoline or diesel vehicle" (Reichmuth, Dunn & Anair, 2022), improving overall air quality in the country. It is a more affordable option than buying a gas powered car and having to pay for fuels, where people spend 40-65% less annually on fuels or up to $5000 less on average in the lifetime of the car (NRDC, 2024). These cars also consist of new technologies such as regenerative braking (or one pedal drive) which captures the kinetic energy while the car is braking and coasting, then reusing it at a later time. Such reasons are why EVs are more environmentally friendly than gas-powered cars.
What is the issue? Lack of EV Charging stations
Despite EV ownership skyrocketing over the last few years, the construction of EV charging stations have not kept up with the supply of EVs.
The state of Illinois has a population of 12.8 million people and a total EV ownership of 111,041 as of 2024. There are 1359 charging stations and 3724 charging ports within the state (DOE, 2024).
We can see that there is a high concentration of EVs owned in the Northeast, around the Chicago metropolis area but also in some other large cities such as Champaign or by the border of St. Louis. Consequently, we also see a large number of EV charging infrastructures in these areas to keep up with the demand.
However, the number of charging stations in counties surrounding Chicago is not sufficient for the amount of EVs there are. For example, Cook county has 531 chargers for over 49,000 EVs, meaning there is only 1 charging station for every 92 EVs.
On the other hand, Southern Illinois sees low EV ownership and even less charging stations. In fact, many of these counties don't even own a charging station like Wayne, Jasper, and Calhoun and more.
Especially in the Winter months...
Tesla’s lose 10-36% of its battery range in the cold while EVs in general lose an average of 41% of their range when outdoor temps drop below 20°F and with the heat on (AAA, 2019). According to Tesla's Support Service, it states that owners shall keep charge level above 20%, precondition and defrost their car and have the car plugged in after use to keep the battery warm (Tesla, nd).
January 2024 Cold Snap
A sudden cold snap in mid January earlier this year saw temperatures drop to 0°F, which posed as a great threat to EV owners across the Midwest, especially those in the Chicago area. According to the Tesla Owners Club, 3 out of the 13 superchargers in the Chicago metropolitan area were closed (Rosemont, Oak Brook and Country Club Hills), with some 50 stalls across the region being out of order.
Evergreen Park, IL
Long wait lines with slow charging speeds (normally takes 45 mins but now up to 5 hrs)
Skokie, IL
Cars getting towed away after getting no charge from the supercharger.
Oak Brook, IL
Supercharge station ended up being closed.
O'Hare International Airport, IL
Nearest superchargers, Rosemont and Oak Brook, both facing closures.
Solutions
What about the future?
“It’s been a roller coaster ride, I’ll go through winter and then decide whether I keep it”
“It’s kind of like I don’t really want a Tesla”
“I think it’s a matter of time. They definitely have to work on it because I’m out of this Tesla after today. I’m not going to ride it again,”
The harsh winters have been proven difficult for Tesla owners, who already have the luxury of accessing Tesla's Supercharger network that is found across the country. We can only imagine what winter was like for general EV owners who suffer from the same issues. The lack of charging infrastructure and technological difficulties has made owning an EV less enjoyable, thus making us question what will our futures with EVs look like?
