Russia-Ukraine conflict: How Tesla EVs are helping Ukrainians during crisis

Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, many auto OEMs are extending their support to the latter country and suspending business in the former, marking their concern for the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. While Tesla is offering free electric car charging around Ukraine to help refugees flee, its electric vehicles are helping the owners in more ways.

A recent Facebook post by a Tesla EV owner in Ukraine highlights how the vehicle's Camp Mode is providing some people shelter and place to store their goods including weapons, food supplies and fuel. The range of the electric vehicle also eliminates the need to charge it up frequently while having an EV is also crucial when there is fuel scarcity. “Now, in a period when fuel is not always in time to bring, an electric car has become especially indispensable for the city. And Tesla with Camp mode has become a home for many," Bogdan Golovatiuk from Kyiv wrote in his Facebook post.

The post has several images of Tesla EVs being used as storage space and shelter during the crisis. Essentially, having an off-grid access to energy and being able to turn your car into a temporary home are things that many don't think about in everyday life but these aspects become significant at such times of crisis. A roomy Tesla EV with plenty of range is proving to be just that.

Besides this, members of the Tesla Klub Polska have also driven down to the Ukraine border to help out refugees with food supplies and first aid, showing the solidarity of the unofficial Tesla community.

Tesla also announced free charging for both Tesla and non-Tesla EVs around Ukraine- in Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary. However, as helpful as this sounds, this will likely benefit only a handful of people in Ukraine because the region still doesn't have electric vehicles in their mainstream mobility space and also lacks the infrastructure needed to access free charging.