The Chinese vehicle’s battery had lost 60% of its charge overnight in minus-five-degree Celsius (23 degrees Fahrenheit) weather, leaving tons of fruit stranded and customers impatient. Ahmad’s dead battery is part of a global crisis nobody anticipated when governments started subsidizing electric vehicles. “I thought this would change my life,” Ahmad told Rest of World, pointing at the three-wheeler now permanently parked in his courtyard. Charging in cold weather has been identified as a primary cause of thermal acceleration, which can lead to fires. An electric three-wheeler owner in Kashmir keeps the battery, wrapped in cloth, inside his home to protect it from freezing.