A Technical Safety BC investigation has concluded that it was the FreeWire Boost Charger — not a third-party adapter — that caused the August 2024 explosion while a Tesla Model Y was plugged in at a charging station in Hope, British Columbia.
The findings reveal the root cause was a failure inside the charger itself — a unit commonly used at Parkland’s On the Run locations across Canada.
Charger Fault Triggered the Explosion
According to the report released by Technical Safety BC, the investigation found that a short circuit in a battery module within the FreeWire charger sent abnormal voltage through the charging cable, ultimately causing an arc flash explosion when it reached the connected adapter. Although the adapter was destroyed, the report attributes the initiating fault to the FreeWire unit itself.
FreeWire’s Boost Charger, a battery-integrated DC fast charger capable of delivering up to 200 kW, is certified under UL and UL-C standards. However, the report notes that the charger involved had previously logged multiple “low resistance” errors — signs of potential internal faults that should have prompted maintenance. However, this never happened.
Adapter Was Uncertified — But Safe
The Tesla owner was using a third-party A2Z EV CCS1-to-NACS adapter to connect to the non-Tesla charger. While the adapter did not carry Canadian certification at the time, that was due to a gap in regulatory standards — not a lack of safety. When the incident occurred, there was no approved certification available anywhere in North America for adapters of this type.
The first official North American standard, ANSI/CAN/UL 2252 – Adapters for Use with Electric Vehicle Couplers, was only introduced in March 2025 — several months after the incident. A2Z EV stated that all of its adapters undergo individual factory testing and comply with the technical safety requirements that later became formalized under UL2252.
The adapter had also been used around 50 times before without issue, further reinforcing that it was not the root cause of the failure.
FreeWire’s Broader Reliability Issues
While the charging station brand was not revealed in the report, FreeWire’s Boost Chargers are widely deployed at Parkland’s On the Run convenience stores across Canada, including in Hope, B.C. the location where the explosion occurred. FreeWire has faced reliability issues with its battery-integrated design, and several units have already been replaced due to persistent faults.
FreeWire’s Boost Charger is a DC fast charger that stands out for its battery-integrated design. Unlike traditional fast chargers that draw large amounts of power directly from the electrical grid, the Boost Charger uses an internal battery pack to store energy and then release it quickly when a vehicle plugs in.
This setup allows sites with limited grid capacity—such as gas stations and remote areas—to offer high-speed charging (up to 200 kW) without costly electrical upgrades. The charger slowly recharges its internal batteries from the grid between sessions, effectively acting as a buffer that delivers rapid charging to vehicles while minimizing stress on local infrastructure.
FreeWire’s technology has since been acquired by Orange EV, which is rebranding the platform as the Orange EV Juicer and working to address these reliability concerns. The company is currently replacing older FreeWire chargers with improved units that maintain the same low-infrastructure installation benefits while improving safety and serviceability.
You can read the full Technical Safety BC report below.
