Westfield shoppers fume at car blocking entry ramp due to flat battery
SHOPPERS at Westfield were left fuming after a Tesla ran out of battery on the car park entry ramp, blocking other cars in for three hours.
Fuming about the hold up, one shopper took to the online forum Reddit to share pictures of the scene and vent their frustration.
Other users responding were equally outraged, adding that there’s “no excuse” for causing such a delay.
After being caught in the jam on Wednesday November 3, Reddit user Henry took to the forum to vent, posting pictures and writing: “Perfect, a Tesla ran out of battery and stopped at the ramp of a five-storey car park at Westfield. It has been three hours and counting.”
One of the pictures he shared with the post showed a tailback of cars looping around the sloped spiral exit ramp.
According to Tesla the car has 360 miles of range when fully charged, so it is tough to run out without reaching a charging point. This was exactly the point other users on the forum were making.
One wrote: “Considering the huge range these cars have, there’s really no excuse for this.
“Especially as the cars still have quite a bit of range (10-20 miles) even after hitting 0%. The driver had plenty of warning.”
Another agreed: “Westfield even has a large capacity Tesla charging station.
“But yeah, like others say, over three hours is bad management imo. Get an extension lead at that point. A standard wall plug adds 6-10 miles an hour. So just 10 mins to give it a full mile to drive to a parking spot (likely with charging) is needed.”
Others were less damning of the driver, with one writing: “Same for running out of petrol I guess. It happens.”
When users suggested the car should have been recovered already, original poster Henry wrote: “The Tesla is completely dead and it is in parking mode.
“The management team rumbling about their solution and basically there is nothing they can do. At the end, all the cars reversed out from a five-storey winding ramp. Fab day.”
He also added that attempts to tow the car out had failed.
A spokesperson for Westfield said: “A customer’s Tesla vehicle broke down on the entry ramp of the car park at around 6pm due to an empty battery.
“Westfield London’s car park team assisted the broken down vehicle and guided 10 vehicles that were behind the Tesla around it.
“Tesla car park assistance then arrived on site to support the broken down vehicle.”