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DC Charging While In An EV

4K views 11 replies 9 participants last post by  XJ12 
#1 ·
So for my first DC charge at a local Evgo I called up the toll free number to get started. All went well but the operator suggested not to sit in the vehicle during DC charging as did another I asked about it on my next charge.

Anyone know if there are any safety concerns with being in your vehicle while it is DC charging? Safe to have the vehicle on as well?
 
#2 ·
first I've heard of it - only reason I can think of sitting in the car typically not running will get hot - unless you're running the AC - and charging while running the AC takes a bit longer because the AC is draining the battery while it's being charged…

I've noticed charging my Tesla does go slightly slow when I remain in the car - which I attribute to the AC running while I wait for the charge to finish.

If you visit any Tesla supercharger location you'll see many many Tesla owners staring at their phones while they chill waiting for their fast charge…

I don't think it's a safety issue, rather it might be an efficiency issue - but maybe I'm missing something.
 
#3 ·
I would assume it is a general safety warning as a charging failure could cause a fire. Doesn't mean it absolutely will cause a fire, just that it could and they don't want the responsibility of someone taking a nap in their car while it charges only to be burned/killed if something were to fail.
 
#4 ·
@Peter that's a good point…

and you are probably correct - but in all honesty I'm much more worried about being the car while someone is adding gas to it - I've seen enough fuel spilled on hot brakes/wheel leading to fires to be much more concerned about refueling a gas car than charging an EV

however it never hurts to be cautious, but I'm fairly comfortable sitting in my EV's while they are being charged.
 
#5 ·
Yeah I certainly don't expect to be a high chance, I expect it is a really low probability of it occurring. I think it is more a CYA from the charging company so they can say, we told him not to sit in his car while it charged and now he is crispy, not my fault. So normal insurance/legalese crap. It wouldn't surprise me if you dug deep into Tesla's policy on supercharging that it says the same thing.
 
#8 ·
I'm sure there are some testing guidelines required for EMF levels and what might or might not interfere with a pacemaker. If it were a concern, I'd expect to see some sort of highly visible warning on the charger, car, etc.

Bottom line, stay in your car or don't while it's DC fast charging. It doesn't really matter. Many cars such as the Bolt EV can draw additional power from the charger to run AC and heating, so it actually makes the inside of the car a nice place to be while DC fast charging.
 
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