Canada man leaves his Tesla Model 3 stranded and fully running for 12 hours in -33°F to see if it survives

A man left his 2024 Tesla Model 3 running for 12 hours in -33°F temperatures to see how the EV held up and whether it would be able to keep him warm.

Cold weather can make being an EV owner a little more challenging. 

As well as dealing with frozen door handles that refuse to open, EV drivers can also expect to see some range loss when the weather dips below zero.

Content creator and Tesla owner FrozenTesla lives in Saskatchewan, Canada – so he knows a thing or two about cold weather – and he recently decided to see if his EV could keep him warm if he became stranded. 

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Could the Tesla Model 3 cabin stay warm in -33°F temps?

The YouTuber has had his Tesla Model 3 for a little over a year and is used to driving it in extreme conditions. 

He’s previously taken a look at the toll the sub-zero temperatures have had on his car’s battery. 

And in a recent challenge, he decided to see if the cabin of his Tesla could stay warm for 12 hours when the weather outside was a piercing -33°F. 

For the test, he wanted to keep the cabin temperature at around 60°F, warm enough to keep inhabitants alive if they were stranded, as well as the impact on the battery and cost. 

The Tesla had 80 percent of its battery left when he took it out into the brutal evening and parked up. 

“Almost nobody in the entire world is going to see temps like this,” he noted. 

He set the cabin to Camp Mode, which leaves the climate control on in the vehicle until it hits low power mode. 

He went back to see how the car was getting on an hour later and noted that the temperature inside the car felt ‘nice enough’ and the heated seat was still on. 

It also hadn’t used up much juice, with the battery sitting at 76 percent after an hour. 

Another check an hour later, the battery had dropped to 72 percent – but how would it hold up for the next 10 hours?

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Here’s how much battery he used, and what it cost

After 12 hours, the YouTuber decided to end the test and see how the Tesla had performed. 

Despite the super cold conditions, the battery had only dropped 40 percent. 

He also revealed that the car had remained ‘nice and comfortable’ throughout the challenge. 

“I can say with a lot of confidence, if you do get stranded in your EV, as long as you have at least 40 percent charge, you can last quite a long time and stay pretty comfortable, too,” he said. 

During the night, the car had used up around 36 kWh, which cost him $5.87CAD, or around $4.33 US. 

The test left the YouTuber seriously impressed, with him adding that it just shows you can still drive an EV even if you happen to live in one of the coldest places on the planet.

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