Electrify America closes most high-powered EV chargers

The company uncovered a problem with the charging cables.

Electrify America has announced it is temporarily shutting down most of the high-powered electric car charging stations it built in the United States. The company uncovered a potential safety issue with the liquid-cooled charging cables used to connect a car to a station, and it blames the problem on a third-party supplier.

"Out of an abundance of caution, Electrify America is shutting down all of our stations that use the Huber+Suhner high-powered cables until we can confirm that they can be operated safely. We are confident that Huber+Suhner will investigate and resolve this issue as quickly as possible," wrote Giovanni Palazzo, the CEO of Electrify America, in a statement published online.

We doubt anyone will notice a difference. The high-powered stations that are temporarily disconnected from the grid boast a charging speed of 150 or 350 kilowatts. As of January 2019, there are no electric cars compatible with these speeds sold in the United States. The first 150-kilowatt-capable car will be the Audi E-Tron, which will begin arriving in showrooms in a few months' time. The Porsche Taycan will follow, but it's even further away; it hasn't been unveiled yet.

Electrify America did not release additional details about the problem, and it didn't say when it will fix the chargers. It notes that 50-kilowatt chargers, L2 chargers, and CHAdeMO connectors remain safe to use.