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So, my car was hit by lightning at the Grove City, OH supercharger...

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#81
mochouinard said:
You should unplug BEFORE an lighting storm, not during :) So stay in the car and charge ! The odds are low, though it under 1 in a 60 000 now :p

I will think twice before unplugging the car when finished charging in a lighting storm now !
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I had actually thought about unplugging the car but the storm had come on me so quick that I didn't really have time. I didn't want to get out of my car for exactly this reason. It was crazy because I was thinking about it and then BOOM!
 
#82
This happened to our Volt year -- it was parked in our home garage, charging late at night. Lightening struck a tree or power pole near the garage. The surge blew out the fuses in our Voltec Level 2 charger -- amazingly the fuses are hard wired, not replaceable. The inverter in the Volt was also fried. Humm, I cannot remember how we got it out to the dealer, I can't imagine it would run, but just don't remember. Chevy gladly replaced the inverter and Voltec replaced the charger, but didn't pay for the electrician. We try to stay unplugged during lightening storms now.
 
#84
Insane said:
This news has gone Viral and is all over the internet portrayed as a negative news. I please urge logann to remove or disable the video.
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No.... Your idea is not a good one. Transparency is always best for Tesla. As for OP, that is her call, but it should be made on her merits, not Tesla's.

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Were they able to get you a loaner on short notice?

lagann said:
Quick update:

The Tesla technician manually disconnected the charger and they towed it over to the service center. They pulled the logs and sent them to engineering. They're waiting on engineering before they do anything. The engineers should be able to figure out what happened.
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#86
supratachophobia said:
No.... Your idea is not a good one. Transparency is always best for Tesla. As for OP, that is her call, but it should be made on her merits, not Tesla's.

- - - Updated - - -

Were they able to get you a loaner on short notice?
Click to expand...

I did not post the video to be malicious. Just because some people are reading into it wrong doesn't mean that I should remove it. I'm just posting my experience for other owners. Censorship is bad, ok.

As for the loaner, I needed to get home to Atlanta and they don't give loaners for that distance. Instead, they rented me a car from Enterprise to drive home with. Tomorrow I will get a loaner from my local Tesla service center in Marietta.
 
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#87
In light of the rising media interest, it's worth keeping two things in perspective:

1. The car next to her at the Supercharger disconnected and drove off fine after the lightning strike.

2. After 2 years and nearly 100 million miles of Supercharging, this is the first case of lightning damage to a Model S we've heard of.
 
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#89
lagann said:
I did not post the video to be malicious. Just because some people are reading into it wrong doesn't mean that I should remove it. I'm just posting my experience for other owners. Censorship is bad, ok.

As for the loaner, I needed to get home to Atlanta and they don't give loaners for that distance. Instead, they rented me a car from Enterprise to drive home with. Tomorrow I will get a loaner from my local Tesla service center in Marietta.
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I'm glad you posted the video and glad you are keeping it up. This doesn't even seem negative or malicious at all. I think there are many of us who get frustrated when some on the forums want to hide negative things about Tesla thinking it somehow helps them. The request to take this video down was one of them, the torque sleep update problem with the brakes not working properly in reverse (only lasted 48hrs) and the failure of rear facing seat seatbelt were others.

Glad to set you got back down to Atlanta OK. Did you take I75 up? I am making the trip down this weekend and want to know if Louisville to Columbus is a range issue.
 
#90
supratachophobia said:
Glad to set you got back down to Atlanta OK. Did you take I75 up? I am making the trip down this weekend and want to know if Louisville to Columbus is a range issue.
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Do you really mean Louisville, or did you mean Lexington?

I'm not the OP, and this is veering OT, but I just did the Columbus to Cincinnati to Lexington to Louisville leg last week in a 85D and it was kind of a pain. I left Grove City with an 80% charge, stopped to see friends in Cincy, and then had a to scramble to find a charge (ended up going to the Kenwood Mall for HPWC) to be able to get to the SC in Lexington so I could make Louisville.

If you're starting with a 100% charge in an 85, you should be okay, but less than that you may need to make some contingency plans for Cincinnati (at least until the SC there opens up later this month).
 
#91
Very interesting thread and glad the OP was not hurt.
I've been thinking about this type of event since the first day I own an S and am positively surprised it has only happened once so far.
Does the stall to which the car was connected still work? I would guess it is fried as well. There must be interesting clues as to what happened in the supercharger as well.
 
#92
jdo said:
Do you really mean Louisville, or did you mean Lexington?

I'm not the OP, and this is veering OT, but I just did the Columbus to Cincinnati to Lexington to Louisville leg last week in a 85D and it was kind of a pain. I left Grove City with an 80% charge, stopped to see friends in Cincy, and then had a to scramble to find a charge (ended up going to the Kenwood Mall for HPWC) to be able to get to the SC in Lexington so I could make Louisville.

If you're starting with a 100% charge in an 85, you should be okay, but less than that you may need to make some contingency plans for Cincinnati (at least until the SC there opens up later this month).
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I had absolutely no problems going from Lexington to Grove City. Just drive the speed limit and you will be fine. The only bad thing is needing to charge for 40 minutes. Just get the trip estimate to 7% or more and it should work out. I almost always end with more than they estimated and that's going 5-10mph over the limit. My one rule was to just not ever go over 75mph.

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Nitram said:
Very interesting thread and glad the OP was not hurt.
I've been thinking about this type of event since the first day I own an S and am positively surprised it has only happened once so far.
Does the stall to which the car was connected still work? I would guess it is fried as well. There must be interesting clues as to what happened in the supercharger as well.
Click to expand...

Thanks! The Tesla tech support guy said the stall was reporting that it was fine. The lights on it were still lit. They were going to send the supercharging team out to check on it but I don't they would tell me anything. I could call and ask though.
 
#93
This story has a lot of interest, glad nothing happened to OP physically! Everyone is very interested in the outcome... I know as a EV owner (LEAF) this post and the following conversation really got my attention. Never even occurred to me that even at home being connected or charging during a lightning storm could have potential for a bad day. I have surge protectors of course on everything of value in my home. I assume my home charger has some sort of surge protection, will have to research that!

But last night a very fast storm came rolling through with lots of lightning, so I made sure I was not charging during it...

Sounds like TESLA service is living up to expectations to take care of you until this is resolved! No cost to you on the Enterprise rental correct?
 
#95
CHGolferJim said:
Raises concerns about leaving your car plugged in during summer trips.
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Same concern would apply to your houses HVAC, fridge, washer/dryer, etc. I had a $100 whole-house surge protector installed into my breaker panel. Hopefully I never need it, but if I do, hopefully it sacrifices itself while my electrical equipment in the house are saved from any issues.
 
#98
I love the negative press... because we all know that an ICE hit by lightning is perfectly safe:
Car explodes into flames after lightning above gas leak in Canberra - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

And the infrastructure required for those gas vehicles is perfectly safe too:
Lightning Bolt Starts Blaze In Fuel Tank In New Jersey - NYTimes.com
Lightning strike ignites vapors in the air, starting fire above gas pumps | News - Home

And I'd hate to think what would happen to a car hit while refuelling...
 
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