Tesla Charging Woes Means Apology For Norway

Elon Musk apologized to Norwegian owners of the Tesla Model S, some of whom have had difficulties charging their Teslas in the extreme colds of Scandinavia. The issue seems to stem from the Tesla Universal Mobile Connector, or TUMC, which isn’t meshing well with Norway’s electrical grid in all cases.

The Tesla Model S has become one of Norway’s best-selling cars, and has helped make EVs become the top-selling vehicles in the cold northern country, thanks in large part to some crazy-generous incentives. Norway is an important market for Tesla, and Elon Musk has taken care to sooth the feelings of some upset owners who found their electric sedans slowly, or not charging at all. The apology from Musk goes out to about 2,100 Tesla Model S owners in Norway, though it is estimated that “less than 10%” of owners are affected by the charging woes. The issue only seems to come up when temperatures dip to extreme lows, a fairly regular occurrence in one of the world’s coldest countries, thought he Model S has proven to be more than capable of handling Norway’s frozen roads.

Tesla and Musk have responded with more than just an apology though, as a software update to the TUMC has supposedly resolved 95% of the reported charging issues. WTesla will continue to work on the issue until “everything is perfect”, though this is a fairly benign pothole in the grand scheme of things. Norway already hasa fairly comprehensive Supercharger network, and the rest of Europe will soon be covered by Superchargers as well.

That said though, it makes me wonder how the Tesla Model S will handle less-modern electrical grids, like those powering parts of China or other Asian countries. Just another challenge for Musk and co. to overcome I suppose.

Source: The Wall St. Journal