The Tesla owner said getting stuck in his driveway was “annoying as hell,” and he tried everything from hosing the car down to jumping the battery.

  • alouderback@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    It’s news because it’s anti-EV propaganda funded by the gas industry. Articles like this exist solely to get car buyers on the fence to not buy an EV.

      • BarqsHasBite@lemmy.ca
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        1 year ago

        Nissan Leaf batteries are air cooled instead of water cooled. I wouldn’t buy one, especially in a hot area.

        • Arcturus@kbin.social
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          1 year ago

          Would recommend this over the Leaf, but if I recall correctly, Hyundai’s latest EV’s may not have a manual outdoor door release. You won’t get this in US markets, but in Europe and Australasia, I do know the MG is cheaper than both Nissan and Hyundai, and do have manual releases on all their doors.

      • alouderback@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        I agree, but it doesn’t matter. The average shopper associates teslas with all EVs. They see this article and think “no chance I’m getting locked out of my gas car! Ill never buy and EV!”, not “no chance I’m getting locked out of my EV! I’ll buy a Leaf instead of a Tesla!”

        Which is the exact goal of this article.

        • CrypticCoffee@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Average American consumer. In the UK, Prius was massive hybrid wise. Tesla is at premium end now, but Nissan always had a presence.

        • mrpants@midwest.social
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          1 year ago

          Hopefully they think “fuck this car shit” and start wanting/trying every other form of transit.

        • CrypticCoffee@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Don’t know. Didn’t read it. Flattened my battery once in my petrol car and couldn’t get in because of immobiliser.

          I love EVs but hate the scope creep and electric vehicles being associated with data mining and lock out. Of course some other non EVs are going that route also.

      • keeb420@kbin.social
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        1 year ago

        and the leaf can be susceptible to this as well. its a 12v battery thing not a ev or ice thing.

      • Arcturus@kbin.social
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        1 year ago

        The Leaf is pretty much the worst option you can get. There are plenty of others, cheaper, and better, that actually have thermal management on the pack. Unless you’re buying used, in which case the Leaf can be fairly good value, if all you’re doing is city driving.

        • shinjiikarus@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          While I agree with this thing being a propaganda piece, Tesla is often making this laughably easy, with their total disregard for basic security, safety and redundancy. Some manufacturer needs to step up as “the face of EVs”, because Tesla is giving everyone in the industry a bad rep.

          • Yendor@reddthat.com
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            1 year ago

            Does your ICE powered vehicle have redundant 12V batteries? (Even 4x4s with dual batteries very rarely have both connected to the cars electronics…)

            • shinjiikarus@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              I‘m not here to shit on EVs. Tesla just makes some really bad calls. My ICE has a key hidden inside the fob I can use to unlock my car. This isn’t something EVs couldn’t do, just something Tesla doesn’t think about doing because they want to have all the margin and anything redundant means slightly higher BOM.

      • bear_pile@kbin.social
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        1 year ago

        This right here. I fully plan for my next vehicle to be completely EV but refuse to give tesla any money at all. Currently it’s not in my realistic price range but Rivian has some pretty sweet choices

    • artisanrox@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      Well, Elno is certainly doing his own anti-advertising campaign well. I’d never buy a Tesla because that dumbffffk who gives nazis a microphone will profit of it, but there are a lot of very good alternatives out there now.

    • riodoro1@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      People buying EVs get them from vegetable stands, not the “auto industry”

  • sky@lemmy.codesink.io
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    1 year ago

    If he ever read the manual for the car (no one ever does! they should!) he’d know you can remove the tow hook cover and connect a battery to the wires to open the frunk, then replace the 12v battery yourself if you’d like. Or if that’s too complicated, have it towed to a service center or mobile service fix it for you.

    It’s just a car! Fix it yourself or take it to service! Why is this news?

    • deliverator@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      That sounds needlessly more complicated than just having a regular lock mechanism like in most non-Tesla cars.

      • sky@lemmy.codesink.io
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        1 year ago

        Either way you’re replacing the 12v battery before you’re driving anywhere, Tesla or otherwise. Having a manual lock may be nicer for easier access under the hood in this case, but that’s really it. Other automakers EVs also have issues with their 12v systems dying and bricking the cars until replaced, Hyundai’s come to mind specifically. Newer Teslas have a lithium-ion low voltage battery (it’s like 15v or something i think?) that shouldn’t fail for the life of the car, so this is a non-issue.

        • PottedPlant@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          I’ve had the exact same situation happen to me as in the post however Tesla’s service has always replace the battery for free which really makes up for the hassle. It appears also that they are transitioning people to the new lithium ion 12 volt battery, even if your current never came with it originally.

          My frustration with this process is that Tesla uses a 12 volt battery that is not easy to come by unless you go through Tesla service. Sometimes you just need your car immediately and will replace the 12 volt when it dies but you can’t find this bastard at your local auto parts store.

    • Zeroized@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I’ve seen this exact issue end up as a mainstream news story more than once now. I don’t completely understand it either. The process to unlock if the battery is dead takes maybe 10-20 seconds, and from there you charge or replace the battery just as you would if your battery was dead in a standard car. This would be the equivalent to someone with a standard vehicle that has a FOB with the backup key hidden inside. If that person didn’t know that key existed and complained that they were locked out of their vehicle because the FOB had a dead battery, it would be just as odd if it made it to the news.

      Hate the car/brand if you choose to, you do have that right. Just don’t hate based on misinformation.

      • sky@lemmy.codesink.io
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        1 year ago

        Some of it is that a 12v failure is much more of a pain in an EV, since you need low-voltage to trigger the high-voltage battery contactors in order to recharge the low-voltage battery. Many people don’t know this, and then panic when their car appears very broken. Some non-Tesla EVs will throw downright bizarre errors and lights at you in this condition.

        I’m optimistic we’ll all learn about EVs and their common failure modes like we have with ICE vehicles over time.

    • atzanteol@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      This is the great thing about Tesla. There’s always a simple solution to the problems nobody else has!

      • sky@lemmy.codesink.io
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        1 year ago

        Ah yes, the completely unique to Tesla problem of checks notes a dead 12v battery and an owner who doesn’t know how or care to service their vehicle.

        • atzanteol@sh.itjust.works
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          1 year ago

          Just completely missed the point? My battery has died numerous times. I’ve always been able to get into my vehicle when it does.

          • sky@lemmy.codesink.io
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            1 year ago

            Likewise! The order of operations is just slightly different:

            Most Cars: Open Car > Pop Hood > Jump/Replace Battery > Drive Car

            Tesla: Pop Hood > Charge/Replace Battery > Drive Car

            If you know this can happen to your car and are prepared for it (the equivalent of being ready to get a jump in a gas car) it’s not a big deal. Of course, many people opt to just contact Tesla roadside and have them handle it, which is completely fine.

            Different cars function differently! EVs from other manufacturers are not universally immune from this either. Meanwhile Mercedes literally tells you not to open the hood on their EVs, much less replace a dead 12v battery.

            • atzanteol@sh.itjust.works
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              1 year ago

              You realize being able to simply enter a car with a dead battery is useful right? Without needing to replace the friggin battery first?

  • Mr. Shark@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I have a model 3 in Vegas heat without issues. Just need to keep the car charged more in the temperature extremes.

  • ramjet@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    This happened to James May after he left his car sitting for a bit of time. It was a huge pain in the ass to fix it

    • Treatyoself@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      This was the first thing I thought of when I saw this post. It was a real bitch to get to the small battery to power it himself. This was during the pandemic and was the first time I was like “hmmm maybe I don’t want a Tesla”. And, among many other reasons, I do not want a Tesla.

    • Treatyoself@lemmy.world
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      This was the first thing I thought of when I saw this post. It was a real bitch to get to the small battery to power it himself. This was during the pandemic and was the first time I was like “hmmm maybe I don’t want a Tesla”. And, among many other reasons, I do not want a Tesla.

  • ramjet@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    This happened to James May after he left his car sitting for a bit of time. It was a huge pain in the ass to fix it

    • Terevos@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      Happens to gas cars too. Jump it or get it serviced. Not like Teslas are unique in this

      • ramjet@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        I think it’s the fact that you can’t really open the car or the hood when that happens. If my Hyundai battery dies, I open the car door, the hood, and just replace the battery.

        • Terevos@lemm.ee
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          1 year ago

          Well, I can do that on my Tesla too. You just have to know what to do.

          And there are other gas cars which are fully electric too. So if it’s locked, you would have similar issues.

          • ramjet@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Not disagreeing. Just think it’s a dumb problem. Getting access to your hood shouldn’t require you to do something stupid like taking off your tow hitch and juicing thé contacts. BMWs are really dumb about it too. Just want cars to be easily fixable.

            • Terevos@lemm.ee
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              1 year ago

              Well yeah. I agree there. They should make it fairly simple to gain access to the 12 volt battery.

    • zedtronic@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      I know it’s not what you meant, but I giggled at the thought of James May in Texas with a big cowboy hat saying “oh cock”

    • MeowdyPardner@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      Compared to the car’s main battery pack, the 12v battery is like a couple AAs. It’s dumb that it couldn’t use power from the main pack to unlock the car.

  • cassetti@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    “Lawnmower dies when it runs out of gas, homeowner says ‘it’s annoying as hell’ more at 11…”

    sighs