Sam Tabahriti
The radio presenter says he was left stranded on Christmas Eve.Domenick Nati
A Tesla owner said he was left stranded on Christmas Eve after his car wouldn’t charge in the cold.
Domenick Nati, 44, said it was 19 degrees when he plugged his Tesla into a supercharger.
15 hours later the battery still showed a 19-mile range, forcing him to cancel Christmas plans.
It’s not been a happy start to the holidays for Domenick Nati after his Tesla refused to charge in freezing temperatures.
The 44-year-old radio presenter, from Lynchburg in eastern Virginia, told Insider it was 19 degrees (minus 7 C) when he plugged his Tesla S into a supercharger on Friday as his battery was down to 40%.
“Two hours went by and not much changed,” he said. “It was very slow and the numbers got lower as the temperature dropped. Eventually, it stopped charging altogether,” Nati added.
He later tried charging the vehicle at home, but was not successful there either.
On the afternoon of Christmas Eve, he decided to drive to another Tesla supercharger. “Battery is heating – Keep charge cable inserted,” Nati said the screen showed at 1:11 p.m. However, the battery range still hadn’t increased an hour later.
He posted a video on TikTok about the problem that he said left him stranded on Christmas Eve.
“I have no other vehicle so I decided to see if it just needed more time. Hours went by and with only 19 miles left to empty, I chose to leave the car plugged in and get a ride back to my house,” he said.
Nati told Insider he contacted Tesla customer support but received no response.
After Nati left the car charging for the next 15 hours but still got no change, he decided to cancel his Christmas plans because he wasn’t able to book an Uber or Lyft: “There are none working in my area.”
He also expected the Tesla trouble would stop him joining his son on Christmas morning to see him open his presents.
Tesla didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment by Insider. (Business Insider)