A longtime EV owner and current Rivian R1T driver recently shared a rather disturbing incident while charging at an Electrify America station. The incident left the R1T “fried” and the owner stuck hours away from home. Unfortunately, this does not seem to be the first time that such an incident happened.
Rivian R1T owner @snkrticians noted that he was charging his all-electric truck at an Electrify America station when he heard a loud sound. The sound seemed to cause a number of error codes on the R1T, resulting in the vehicle being stuck in the charging stall. It ended up taking several hours before a technician was at the site.
i was two hours away from home, technician wanted to saw the charger off because he couldn’t even pry it off… absurd. now my car is sitting at the charger, what’s next? a rental? a new car? thankfully @Rivian gave me rideshare credits so atleast i can be back home at 3am.
— Anson (@snkrticians) January 29, 2023
Unfortunately for the Rivian owner, he was two hours away from home. Being unable to detach the charger from the R1T, the Electrify America technician reportedly suggested sawing off the charger to free the car, which the longtime EV owner found absurd. Fortunately, Rivian aided the R1T owner by providing him with rideshare credits so that he could come home.
EVs frying when connecting to chargers is happening more and more frequently. I’ll be keeping an eye on these to see if we notice any trends https://t.co/OBGvSW588I
— Kyle Conner (@itskyleconner) January 29, 2023
What’s rather disturbing about the Rivian owner’s experience is that this is not the first time the issue was reported. Back in November, Ford F-150 Lightning owner Eric Roe posted about a very similar experience on Twitter. According to the Lightning owner, he was able to plug into an Electrify America charger just fine, but not long after the charging session started, he heard a loud sound. The charger then went dark and the Lightning displayed a number of error codes. The vehicle had to be towed from the station.
My @Ford being towed away from an @ElectrifyAm charging station after the EA charger fried my truck. pic.twitter.com/V7tFWPWSoi
— Eric Roe (@Eric_L_Roe) November 27, 2022
What’s unfortunate for the Lightning owner was that the vehicle had been back at the dealership since earlier this month due to one of its main battery modules failing since the Electrify America incident. The wait for parts is expected to be long. Ford service has reportedly advised the Lightning owner to ask the carmaker to buy the vehicle back.
Hey man, a week ago the exact same thing happened to my Chevy bolt at an @ElectrifyAm charger. @chevrolet dealer still hasn’t looked at it after spending $288 to have it towed there. I’m curious if EA ever said what actually happened at the charger.
— Malicious Compliance (@Burn_This_App) January 26, 2023
In a response to the Rivian R1T owner’s experience on Twitter, a Chevy Bolt owner claimed to have the exact same experience at an Electrify America charger as well. The incident ended up causing the Bolt owner to reportedly spend $288 to get the all-electric hatchback towed to a dealership. Amidst these reports, electric vehicle owners are clamoring for Electrify America to issue a formal statement about the matter, and as soon as possible, issue a fix to ensure that no electric cars are “fried” anymore.
Car wouldn’t shift out of park, had 13 error codes. @ElectrifyAm told us to have it towed ($288) to dealer. Week later @chevrolet still hasn’t looked at it. @gm hasn’t done anything. Nobody will even give us a loaner car.
— Malicious Compliance (@Burn_This_App) January 29, 2023
Teslarati has reached out to Electrify America for a statement on the matter. I will be updating this article if or when Electrify America responds to my inquiries.
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Keyword: EV owners report issue that “fries” cars when charging at Electrify America