---
title: "Tesla Screens Flash Warning: Charge Your Cars Before CA Blackout"
description: "Electric car company Tesla has given its customers a heads up: charge your cars. Almost a million Californians are about to lose power for five days."
date: "2019-10-09"
modified: "2019-10-09"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/tesla-psa-california-charge-cars-blackout"
categories:
  - "Advanced Transport"
  - "Tesla"
tags:
  - "electric battery"
  - "powerwall"
  - "tesla"
  - "the digest"
---

# Tesla Screens Flash Warning: Charge Your Cars Before CA Blackout

![Electric car company Tesla has given its customers a heads up: charge your cars. Almost a million Californians are about to lose power for five days.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/tesla-psa-california-charge-cars-blackout.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Tesla\</em\>*

## Historic Blackout

California electric utility company Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) is about to shut off power for [almost a million people](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/california-go-without-power>) in the Bay Area in an effort to prevent wildfires. And electric car company Tesla [is pushing](<https://electrek.co/2019/10/09/tesla-in-car-warning-owners-power-outage/>) a message onto its cars display consoles: charge your cars before it's too late.

"A utility company in your area announced they may turn off power in some areas of Northern California beginning October 9 as part of public safety power shutoffs, which may affect power to charging stations," a Tesla warning read, [according to *Teslarati*](<https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-ev-owners-powerwall-customers-ca-power-outage/>). "We recommend charging your Tesla to 100% today to ensure your drive remains uninterrupted."

## Five Days

PG&E is planning to turn the power completely off for five long days, giving some of its customers only a single day to prepare for living without power.

It's unclear how many Tesla Superchargers in the area will be affected, but electric car owners will likely have a hard time finding a place to charge.

## You're My Powerwall

As for those lucky enough to own a Tesla Powerwall 2 — that massive lithium-ion battery pack that can power your home — the power outage won't be as dire as it could be.

Tesla [has already activated](<https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-ev-owners-powerwall-customers-ca-power-outage/>) "Storm Watch" on affected Powerwalls, a feature that tells the battery pack to charge to its maximum capacity in preparation for power outages.

**READ MORE:** [Tesla prepares EV owners, Powerwall customers for CA’s historic power outages](<https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-ev-owners-powerwall-customers-ca-power-outage/>) \[*Teslarati*\]

**More on the outage:** *[California Is Cutting Power For Nearly a Million Homes](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/california-without-power>)*

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)