I remember the 2019 polar vortex that froze Chicago in its tracks. That week, Michigan Avenue looked like a warning sign for the electric vehicle craze. Teslas sat scattered and lifeless along the curbs, their batteries too cold to charge or start, turned into expensive lawn ornaments by the weather. Anyone paying attention back then got a glimpse of what was coming. This weekend’s storm will bring that same lesson back with a vengeance.

As a business owner, I depend on equipment that works when it’s cold, dark, and inconvenient. I cannot afford delays because someone’s fancy technology does not like the temperature. And that’s the problem with electric vehicles — they might work fine in perfect conditions, but real life is rarely perfect. When the temperature drops into the teens, batteries lose range, charging slows to a crawl, and suddenly the “future of transportation” is parked on the shoulder.

We are told EVs are the answer to everything, but that claim falls apart the moment the thermometer drops. Those 300-mile ranges shrink to 150 or less when heaters and defrosters are running nonstop. Drivers end up chasing chargers like mirages, only to find them full, frozen, or broken. Try doing that while customers wait, appointments stack up, and trucks need to move. It is not innovation when it fails the people who actually keep the economy running.

Meanwhile, those of us still driving gasoline vehicles will start our engines, clear our windshields, and get to work. We will make deliveries, meet deadlines, and keep operations running because combustion engines do not need ideal conditions. You can call them outdated if you want, but when the weather turns ugly, they still get the job done.

This storm will expose what many of us already know. EVs are not ready for the demands of real-world business, not in cold climates and not at scale. The technology has promise, but it is being pushed faster than it’s been proven. For the rest of us — the ones responsible for keeping fleets running and customers served — reliability still matters more than image. And Mother Nature is about to remind everyone of that fact.