Every electric car driver’s worst nightmare is to stop at a DC fast-charging station on the way to Grandma’s house with the kids and plug in their car. There’s a big bang and some sparks. After that, you won’t be able to start your vehicle. You have no control. Yes, that does happen. The ability to charge an electric vehicle overnight at home is one of the most excellent features of these vehicles, and practically all owners of electric cars already own the necessary equipment. But the number of DC fast-charging stations in North America is increasing for longer trips. With these, most EVs can be charged at 80% of their capacity in 20 to 45 minutes. The Tesla Supercharger network is the most reliable and easy to use, even though, until recently, it only worked with Tesla’s electric vehicles. There are others, though. People who drive electric vehicles (EVs) that aren’t Teslas will eventually realize that public charging stations on the street are only sometimes available or reliable. Even scarier is that a charging station can “blow up your EV.” The driver or family also worries that their vehicle will be totaled, putting their trip and cars in danger. Is the trip of the EV over? Three Mishaps in Real Life Even though this is a doubtful situation, it is not entirely impossible. Since November, at least three EV drivers have been charging their cars at Electrify America charging stations when they heard a loud bang, the charging stopped, and the vehicles wouldn’t start. A Rivian R1T, a Chevrolet Bolt EV from January 22, and a Ford F-150 Lightning from November 27 were all involved in an accident on January 29. Each event got much attention on social media but ended differently. The car and driver contacted Electrify America and the three car companies to learn more about each case. Even though EA gave us statements about each incident, the company kept us from meeting with network experts to get more information. The answers from the automakers ranged from “no comment” to longer answers. We gathered what we knew from reports from EV owners, comments we heard, and private conversations with several sources who asked to remain anonymous because the topic was so sensitive. There are also circuit breakers in electric cars. The most important thing for people who own EVs to remember is that the battery wiring is connected to a high-voltage circuit breaker. It works like the circuit breakers in your home: if too much current goes through the circuit, the breaker trips, stopping the rotation and protecting anything further down from danger. “The sound you heard as a “boom” was probably the breaker tripping,” says Electrify America. This happens when there is a loud noise before the power goes out. Because there are so many fail-safes, it could be in the charging device, vehicle, or both.” This is precisely what happened on November 27 with the F-150 Lightning. A few weeks later, Electrify America and Ford said it was caused by “an isolated event while DC was fast-charging.” “This set off safety features in the car and turned on fail-safes in the charging system,” it said. The most important part of the sentence is when Ford fixed the car’s circuit breaker and returned the vehicle to the customer. In other words, the circuit breaker did what it was supposed to do to protect the battery. The battery’s owner, Eric Roe, then saw that one of the modules needed to be replaced. He was not compensated for his efforts in performing the work. When asked if Ford’s EV warranty usually covered the reset of a high-voltage circuit breaker, the company said, “It depends on how the breaker is set off. If a problem with the car causes it, the warranty will cover it for sure.” But the warranty doesn’t cover it “if something else sets it off and the car works normally.” But Ford said, “For the event in question, cover the cost because it was thought to be a one-time thing.” About the Rivian case, not as much is known. When asked about the event on January 29, Rivian did not answer. In contrast to what happened with Ford, Electrify America, and the car company did not make a single statement. Its charging network said in a separate statement that it “did a full analysis and found that an electrical problem inside the car caused the only event.” That means that the charging station or the equipment that gets the power didn’t work. EA says that the safety features worked the way they were supposed to. This could mean that a circuit breaker meant to protect the high-voltage battery pack of the Rivian tripped. Even though we don’t know everything, it likely kept the group safe while making the vehicle useless. After the accident, Rivian took the truck back to be fixed. Three weeks later, the truck’s owner, Anson, tweeted that the company had set the car and given it back to him. He said that the company fixed a bumper that he had broken off-roading. Anson is probably still happy with his Rivian, even if he isn’t so happy with Electrify America. Rivian won’t say anything about warranties, but its New Vehicle Limited Warranty Guide does have some tips. Repairs are often covered if a Rivian part or party breaks down during everyday use, just like with other brands. But it doesn’t look like the damage is covered if it was caused by something outside of the phone, like a broken charger, and not by factory-supplied parts or artistry. If someone outside did the damage, they would have to pay to fix it. We’ll let the lawyers argue about what “normal use” means when charging at a public station. As was already said, Rivian fixed the truck at no cost to the owner. How does the Chevy Bolt EV work? The Chevy Bolt EV case is the one we know the least about. It didn’t start with a problem with charging on January 22 at an Electrify America site in Chipley, Florida. The car was towed to Miller & Miller Chevy Buick GMC in Marianna, Florida, where the service staff said it was a total loss. In these situations, the dealership has the final say, not the manufacturer. The Bolt’s owners, Cass and Sara Tippit have filed an insurance claim for the car’s value. However, they still have to pay for car rentals for weeks without a car. Chevrolet told Car and Driver that its engineers couldn’t look at the car because it was in the hands of the insurance company. The person said that the company still hopes to do so. But GM’s repair coverage is the most complete of the three. A GM spokesman said the warranty would cover resetting the high-voltage circuit breaker in an EV. “The Bolt problem is still being looked into,” Electrify USA said. Trying to make customers feel better Electrify America sent Car and Driver several statements to reassure current and potential EV drivers about its network. However, it didn’t say anything about what happened at its charging stations in any of the three cases. We are extremely sorry that each of our clients had to deal with an issue as customer security and charging experience are our top priorities. We did about six million charging sessions in 2022, and each was different. We see few car lockouts per million sessions. Yet, the answers to these questions are used to improve standards for component reliability, testing for interoperability, and general over-the-air updates for the network.
