Getting stuck on a highway in an EV

Oh no! The pundits would have you believe that if you got stuck on the highway at a standstill during a snowstorm, like what happened in Virginia in early January, you would be in serious trouble if you were in an all-electric vehicle.

Dirty Tesla, a renowned Tesla owner who has made loads of YouTube videos on what it's like to be a Tesla owner, decided to put that suggestion to the test. He took a Model X with resistive heating, and a newer Model Y with the new heat pump technology, and see what would happen if you were stuck at a standstill for 12 hours.

He charged both vehicles to 90% state of charge. They had not recently been driven, so they were not already pre-conditioned. Outside, it was between 9F and 15F over the course of the 12 hour test. He set the HVAC in both cars to 70F and turned on the driver's seat heater on high.

After 12 hours, the Model X went from 90% to 47%, which means a full charge should last 28 hours. The Model Y went from 91% to 58% ($4.22 worth of electricity at 0.16 per kwh), which means a full charge should last 36 hours.