Tesla CEO Elon Musk criticized the Texas grid operator on Wednesday for being unreliable after millions of residents were left without power during a historic winter storm that brought record state freezing temperatures.
Musk tweeted that the state energy agency, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), “is not winning that R.”
In December, the billionaire moved from California to Austin, where he is building a new Tesla plant.
Meanwhile, Texans posted on social media that they slept in their Tesla cars to keep warm during the cold nights.
In 2019, Tesla launched a vehicle with a “Camp Mode” feature that allows owners to use the car’s temperature control for more than a day without draining the battery.
“We had a power outage for 6 hours last night. Our house has no gas and we run out of wood. . . what we’re going to do, ”wrote a Reddit user on the r / TeslaMotors forum.
“So my wife, my dog, and my newborn daughter, slept in our Model3’s very cozy garage. If I didn’t have this car, it would have been a very difficult night ”, added the user.
A Twitter user wrote: ‘”I slept at Tesla LOL. Very comfortable. Most importantly, hot. “
Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced on Tuesday, he is calling for an investigation into the energy company “anything but reliable” after more than four million residents had to endure freezing temperatures during the blackout.
ERCOT said electricity was restored to 600,000 homes and businesses on Tuesday night, but nearly three million still lacked power.
The authorities did not provide a clear timetable for when the power would be fully restored.
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