Anson Wong, owner of a Rivian R1T, reported that his vehicle experienced a loud boom while charging at an Electrify America station. Two errors appeared on his vehicle and he claims the charger damaged his battery and battery management system.
This is at least the third instance of an electric vehicle (EV) being towed away from an Electrify America charging station. The cause of these incidents is not yet known and could vary, but it has happened to a Rivian R1T, a Ford F-150 Lightning, and a Chevrolet Bolt.
According to Wong, after the inspection by Rivian and Electrify America, he received no response from Electrify America, but Rivian was helpful and sent an engineering team to the service center to assess the damage. They informed Wong that he would receive a new battery pack and charge port at minimum.
hey @ElectrifyAm i just plugged in my @Rivian r1t and 1 minute later i hear a loud boom and now i have a bunch of error codes and i can't even unplug my car…. took you guys 7 hours to get a guy out and that even wasn't help. what's the deal???? now my car is fried too… 🔥 pic.twitter.com/6I7RsmZG0S
— Anson (@snkrticians) January 29, 2023
Three incidents involving Electrify America (EA) charging stations have been reported, causing damage to vehicles and raising concerns about the safety and reliability of the network.
In one case, a charging cable became “welded” to the port, as seen in the photo provided. Another incident resulted in an F-150 Lightning being “fried” by the EA charging station, although neither the automaker nor the charging company took responsibility.
BREAKING 🚨Dealer just said car is completely fried. @ElectrifyAm Charger sent so much power through car that it fried ever wire in my @chevrolet bolt battery and rendering over $20,000 in damages. https://t.co/AYjTlQcWHD
— Malicious Compliance (@Burn_This_App) January 31, 2023
A third case in Chipley, Florida saw an Electrify America charger damaging every wire in a Chevrolet Bolt battery, causing over $20,000 in damages. The owner is now seeking legal counsel to hold the charging company accountable. Although the exact cause of these incidents is yet to be determined, the common link is the Electrify America charging network.
We are on the lookout for further occurrences and have contacted Rivian and Electrify America regarding the matter. We will update this post if we receive a response.
