Thankfully, the owner avoided major injuries but the arc destroyed a charging adapter
- A Tesla driver was injured after an explosion while charging in Hope, B.C.
- A non-certified A2Z EV adapter suffered an internal arc fault malfunction.
- Officials warn against uncertified charging gear after this dangerous incident.
Electric cars have a lot of negative myths that swirl around about them but they often carry a kernel of truth. While there are potential risks around charging, it’s rare that they pop up in reality.
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Yet, every so often, one of those outliers surfaces, and in this case, it happened in Canada, where a charging adapter was destroyed by a short circuit, and it was all caught on camera.
A Tesla driver was trying to charge his car at a non-Tesla commercial charging station in British Columbia. To do so, he used an A2Z adapter that allows the charging station to plug into the car.
What Actually Happened?
When he plugged the charger with the adapter connected to it into the Tesla, there was an arc flash explosion. Thankfully, the man was a few feet away from the connection when the explosion happened.
While he experienced minor scrapes and abrasions, the man escaped serious injury. His spouse, sitting in the front passenger seat, was unharmed. An investigation into the incident found that the charging adapter and the charger itself had issues that led to the explosion.
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The adapter wasn’t certified for use in Canada because the standards hadn’t been created yet when the unit went on sale. In addition, the charger itself sent “abnormal voltage,” into the adapter. When that happened, the arc explosion took place and blew the adapter into multiple pieces.
Lessons From a Flash
Bob Porter, of the Vancouver Electric Vehicle Association told the Vancouver Sun that “There are risks with third-party things if they aren’t approved. They haven’t been tested for safety. You don’t jerk around with electricity.”
The Tesla owner mentioned that he’d used the same setup for two years without issue, which makes the event a reminder that even supposedly reliable gear can fail suddenly if it hasn’t been certified or tested under the right standards.
This clearly isn’t a major issue across the industry, but it’s a good reminder that when things go wrong, they can go seriously wrong in the blink of an eye.
