Not just with Tesla: At high temperatures, electric cars struggle with charging speed – because the systems heat up more quickly. Some drivers therefore recommend taking care of the cooling themselves. Not a good idea.
Electric cars have problems with certain weather conditions. If it is extremely cold, the range suffers. If it is very hot, the vehicles do not charge as quickly. It is only human to want to mitigate these technological shortcomings with simple tricks – but it is not always a good idea.
For years, the so-called “towel trick” has been circulating in forums, particularly among electric car drivers with Tesla vehicles. The theory: If you wrap a wet towel around the charging plug of the Supercharger, the additional cooling increases the charging power. Reports, such as an article from “” even confirm this. In a test, wrapping a damp towel around the plug of a Tesla Supercharger increased the power supply drastically.
Tesla warns of “towel trick”
The original version of the article initially simply stated: “As for the safety concerns some owners have raised in online discussions that have arisen over the years, here’s what you should know: First of all, Tesla’s Superchargers are more than capable of operating safely in the rain, so a damp cloth won’t hurt.”
It’s true – of course you can charge electric cars in rain and wet conditions without any problems. There are even tests where water is poured between the plug and the connection – and nothing happens. Should you therefore try your luck at all costs? Probably not.
About two months after the trade magazine “InsideEVs” brought the so-called trick to more attention, Tesla writes: “Putting a wet cloth on the handles of the Supercharger cable does not increase charging performance and interferes with temperature monitoring, which creates the risk of overheating or damage. Please refrain from doing this so that our systems can work correctly and real charging problems can be detected by our systems.”
Electric car drivers need roofs
Many Tesla customers took this post as an opportunity to express their displeasure about the charging speed in very high temperatures. “Improve cooling during charging so we don’t have to adjust to reach the advertised charging speeds,” wrote one. Another suggested: “Perhaps they should put a sunshade over the Superchargers to keep the sites cooler.”
In fact, roofs for charging stations are not a given. However, since the advantages in sun and rain cannot be denied, it is hopefully only a matter of time before charging stations are also better protected from the weather as standard – and the people who want to charge their cars there. Then such “tricks” would not be so popular.
Source: Stern
I’m a recent graduate of the University of Missouri with a degree in journalism. I started working as a news reporter for 24 Hours World about two years ago, and I’ve been writing articles ever since. My main focus is automotive news, but I’ve also written about politics, lifestyle, and entertainment.
