- Tesla’s head engineer slammed a brand new extension cable for Superchargers
- The maker of the cable clapped again with assurances of security and additional testing
- It additionally accepted authorized legal responsibility ought to one thing go sideways whereas charging
Bear in mind when Tesla’s head Cybertruck engineer dropped a scorching tackle Supercharger extension cables a number of days in the past? Wes Morrill suggested “towards” utilizing them, ensuing within the cable producer, A2Z EV, reaching out to him to debate specifics—now they’re again with their very own replace.
In a current collection of posts, A2Z EV addresses the protection considerations first-hand, assuring the general public that their cable does have security measures built-in to guard towards overheating and different points introduced up by Morrill.
That is not all. A2Z EV additionally doubled down by accepting authorized legal responsibility ought to one thing go mistaken and it decided to be attributable to the extension wire. That is proper, they’re prepared to place their cash the place their, erm, extension wire is.
First off, in case you missed the unique drama, let’s recap.
Morrill took to X on Wednesday to provide his opinion—as Tesla’s lead engineer on the Cybertruck and an general material professional—that folk should not contact a Supercharger extension wire, or any DC Quick Charger extension cable, with a ten-foot pole. The priority? When linked to high-output EV chargers, these sorts of extension cords may trigger energy points, overheating, and even shorts (probably leading to fires). Total, they’ve the potential to create an unsafe charging atmosphere.
Nicely, that triggered a little bit of rippling throughout the EV neighborhood amongst non-Tesla house owners who now have entry to the Tesla Supercharging community. Since their automobiles have cost ports positioned in places not optimized for the Supercharger’s quick cables, these house owners noticed an extension cable as a chance to make the charging expertise simpler. Morrill’s recommendation might have made them about-face.
A2Z EV chimed in after chatting with Morrill to guarantee the general public that they don’t have anything to fret about. In line with the corporate, their extension wire has a number of security options built-in to forestall any form of thermal points. For starters, the cable has its personal temperature sensors on each ends. A2Z says that if a sensor determines that the cable is just too scorching, it’ll shut down, probably stopping the cable from overheating ought to the charging session go sideways. It is their means of clapping again by saying, “Yeah, we considered that.”
The corporate additionally confirmed that it might be held legally liable if issues have been to go awry and the cable was deemed to be at fault—be it for harm to the automobiles or from fires. That is a reasonably daring assertion, because it exhibits that A2Z is assured in its product even when Tesla’s high Cybertruck engineer has his personal considerations.
This debate is not going to vanish in a single day. Regardless of A2Z’s reassurances, introducing any variable into an in any other case seamless charging expertise may introduce some technical challenges that might in any other case go unnoticed. The query of whether or not or not these cables have an effect on the charging course of remains to be legitimate. Plus, if one thing goes mistaken, would Tesla void a automobile’s guarantee, or an insurance coverage firm deny a declare?
For now, A2Z EV says that it will not launch its product with out in depth testing. It additionally says that it is open to working with Tesla to make sure that its product meets its requirements. Take into account that Tesla can be constructing its personal extension cable, so we’re unsure how a lot Tesla can be prepared to eat into gross sales of its personal first-party product.
Even when the corporate determines that this cable is secure for launch, it now has to battle previous the stigma launched by Morrill’s suggestion. And that is to not say that Tesla won’t introduce some form of detection technique sooner or later that disables the cable for perceived security functions. Regardless, this actually will not be the final time we hear concerning the Supercharger extension cable debacle.
