Tesla is giving away an upgraded wall adapter to its Model S owners following complaints of overheating.
On November 15, 2013, a Model S in Irvine, California, was reported to have caused fire in a garage. The sedan was being charged via a wall socket in the garage, when it caught fire. However, Tesla as well as U.S. regulators investigations confirmed that the Model S or its charging system, were not responsible for the fire in the garage.
Steve Concialdi, a spokesman for the Orange County Fire Authority also said that investigators cannot conclude if the fire started in the wall socket or was caused by the car's charger. Concialdi, also reported that the fire had nothing to do with the car's battery.
However, six separate reports of overheating wall chargers were posted on the Tesla Motors Club forum, which may have prompted the carmaker to upgrade its adapters.
"My Model S was charging in my garage when my smoke detector went off. I ran to the garage and saw plumes of smoke coming from the Tesla Nema 14-50 adapter. The car was still charging! I unplugged the charger from the car and yanked the charger adapter plug from the outlet. The Nema 14-50 adapter fused to cord. The adapter had a hole on one side where it was melting," complained a Model S owner on Tesla's Motor Club forum.
The owner of the Model S confirmed that Tesla replaced the adapter but the owner feels skeptical about use the charger again. The owner added that the "breaker never tripped nor did the car generate any error or shut off charging."
Tesla seems to have taken the complaints of overheating of chargers seriously and has confirmed in a recent statement that it will send upgraded chargers to its Model S owners. The company has already released an over-the-air software update to address the overheating issue. The software update enables the car's on-board charging system to automatically reduce the charging current by 25 percent if an unexpected fluctuation in the input power to the vehicle is detected.
Model S owners can update their car's software over-the-air or get the update installed through Tesla authorized Service Centers or Tesla Rangers.
"Even if the circuit breakers on the house side and car side don't trip, the thermal fuse will prevent current from flowing if the wall socket region heats up for any reason. Although we do not believe the improved adapter is required to address the issue, we are taking this step as part of our commitment to full customer satisfaction. We will provide this upgraded adapter to existing and new customers free of charge starting in a few weeks," per a Tesla statement.
