ViralHogTesla drivers definitely have the moral high ground when it comes to helping the environment, but dozens of them probably found it hard to feel smug as they sat in a half-mile-long queue to charge their cars.
The unfortunate backlog was spotted in Kettleman City, California, over Thanksgiving weekend, when what looked like almost every Tesla driver in the area decided to head to the Kettleman City Tesla Supercharger station, located halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Shanon Stellini expressed her shock at the scene as she filmed the lengthy line of cars while sailing past in a gas-powered vehicle with her partner on November 30.
Check out the queue below:
Like most holidays, Thanksgiving weekend is a hectic one as people travel to see their families and friends and cities become crowded with Black Friday shoppers trying to score the best deals.
This means the roads are more packed than usual, which poses a problem for those who need to plug in their cars in order to travel.
While gas-powered cars can be filled and ready to go in a matter of minutes, Tesla electric cars can take up to 75 minutes to fully charge, meaning drivers have to be very patient when it comes to getting their hands on a plug.
ViralHogThe Tesla Supercharger station in Kettleman City is already immensely popular, but with Thanksgiving travellers added to the equation its 40 charging stalls just weren’t enough. As dozens of drivers headed to the station to fill their batteries for their onward journeys, a massive queue began to form.
To make matters worse, simultaneous charging of numerous vehicles slows down the speed for everyone, meaning drivers had to wait even longer before they could get back on the road.
In her video, Shanon films one stationary car after another as her partner commented: ‘Bet they wish they had gas!’
It’s unclear how long the Tesla drivers were forced to wait, however one unimpressed commuter tweeted they’d been waiting in the line for 40 minutes but only appeared to be ‘halfway there’.
@Tesla I think you can do better with charging situation. This is at Kettleman location. Been sitting here in line for 40 mins and looks like half way there. pic.twitter.com/vb6V5FA872
— Sunny Walia (@crazytoon) December 1, 2019
The Tesla website describes its Supercharger stations as the ‘world’s fastest charging network’, though the Thanksgiving chaos proves there’s still some kinks to work out.
Earlier this year, the Elon Musk-owned company released a new massive energy storage product named ‘Megapack’ to help cope with the demand for charging stations.
ViralHogDuring instances when Tesla drivers are expected to make long trips, like the holiday season, Tesla can roll out Mobile Supercharger units powered by Megapacks to several locations to – in theory – make wait times shorter.
Unfortunately it doesn’t look like Kettleman City was lucky enough to receive one of the mobile units.
Hopefully the drivers didn’t lose their entire weekend in the queue!
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Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.