Electric vehicle (EV) charging stations have been hit by a “disaster” as the city of Chicago faces subzero temperatures.

EV owners have flocked to charging stations in recent days to ride out the cold before their chargers stop working. fox 32 chicago report.

“There's a lot of dead robots here,” one man said in frustration, referring to disabled EVs and their decommissioned charging stations.

They told me to buy an electric car.

They said everything would be fine.

Reality: A Tesla charging station in the Chicago area is lined with dead cars in the freezing cold.

Gasoline cars do not have this problem. pic.twitter.com/Vrz31KEVUW

— Daniel Turner (@DanielTurnerPTF) January 16, 2024

The newspaper reported that at the Tesla Supercharger station in Oak Brook, several Tesla drivers desperately tried to power up their EVs, only to find long lines and abandoned vehicles.

“Nothing. No juice. Still at zero percent,” said Tyler Beard, who failed to power his EV at a Supercharger station in Oak Brook on Sunday afternoon, according to the newspaper. It’s like being out here for three hours after being out here for three hours yesterday.”

Tesla owner Charice Mizell told Fox 32 that a friend gave her a ride after leaving her EV at a charging station, while Kevin Smulak took possession of it after it landed at O'Hare. He said he had to hire a flatbed tow truck to transport the Tesla to a charging station. The EV was found with a dead battery at the international airport on Sunday, the paper said. (Related: Philadelphia's government electric vehicles are a disaster: report)

Mark Bilek of the Chicago Auto Workers union said EVs present a “learning curve for people,” Fox 32 noted. He explained that EVs have problems in extremely cold climates, so drivers must press a preconditioning button before charging the EV's battery.

“It's not plug-and-go,” Bilek said, according to the newspaper. “The battery must be preconditioned, which means the battery must be brought up to an optimal temperature to accept fast charging.”