Charge port damage no warranty didn't use "Kia Factory Approved Charger"

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Kim J

New Member
I bought Kia Niro EV 2020 love it. Purchased MUSTART Level 2 Portable EV Charger from Amazon Warehouse. First time using charger I monitored it while charged for 45 min. Kia Niro EV and MUSTART charger had no issues both charged happily. I unplugged at 45 min and the charger and charging port where melted.

Shipping for the charger took 2 extra days with it moving to my local warehouse then back to original warehouse then back to mine. It was obvious its repackaged. I inspected the charger closer and the handle was cracked near the plug.

Kia dealership charged me $18,700 for repairs because "Kia did not cover any of the parts or repair because you were not using a factory charger." Only factory charger i could find is level 1 that comes with Niro EV 120v 12amp max. I read in manual and it says that charger should not be used to charged to 100%.

I purchased the charger from Amazon Warehouse directly no 3rd party. I worked with amazons insurance for a month only to be denied for same reason "because the product used was not a Kia Factory approved charger".

I'm posting because "not a Kia Factory approved charger" seems to be a poor reason for sending a damaged charger.
 
Just wondering if there is list out there of approved chargers...don't recall seeing one or a warning about it.
 
Mustart chargers have also been melting Bolt charging ports. There is something seriously wrong with those chargers. I also had an Amazon L2 charger (wall mounted) that sells under several different brand names, and fortunately it had a thermal sensor that cut the charge when it got to hot, but it also got dangerously hot and luckily I got rid of it before it did any damage.

IMO, these cheap-o random brand Amazon chargers are dangerous. I would not trust anything except a well known brand, like Clipper Creek, Chargepoint, EA, etc.

$18k to replace a charging port? That's absolutely insane and makes no sense at all. But I do see Kia not covering the damage, because Mustart is at fault here for their crap chargers.
 
Kim J said:
Sorry it was not 18k it was $1,800 my bad. Found that kia approves ev chargers from bosch leviton and webasto. https://www.kia.com/us/en/ev-faqs.

After some digging i found that Mustart chargers are not UL listed and might have been part of the reason it was not covered.
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Ok that sounds right then, LOL. You should contact Mustart ASAP. The other Bolt owner I referred to is getting the cost of the repair covered by Mustart, along with a refund of the cost of the charger itself. They are really the liable party here.
 
snowy2020 said:
Mustart chargers have also been melting Bolt charging ports. There is something seriously wrong with those chargers. I also had an Amazon L2 charger (wall mounted) that sells under several different brand names, and fortunately it had a thermal sensor that cut the charge when it got to hot, but it also got dangerously hot and luckily I got rid of it before it did any damage.

IMO, these cheap-o random brand Amazon chargers are dangerous. I would not trust anything except a well known brand, like Clipper Creek, Chargepoint, EA, etc.
Click to expand...
Thanks for mentioning Bolt. Reports of Bolt inlet damage/melting have been popping up on Bolt FB groups and at places like the below.

https://www.chevybolt.org/threads/charge-port-meltdown.39239/
https://www.chevybolt.org/threads/mustart-chargers-damaging-cars.39601/

I also agree about the disturbing trend of people buying random EVSEs from places iike Amazon. Don't do it. See https://www.chevybolt.org/threads/charge-port-meltdown.39239/page-2#post-621286 for my thoughts. Clipper Creek is no-frills but of good quality. Others like ChargePoint and Webasto (formerly the EV charging business of Aerovironment) should be fine.

I no fan of Siemens Versicharge but not from any sort danger of of melting or safety POV.
 
My dealer, FWIW, explicitly suggested buying a Bosch charger. I can't say I disagree with this after using it for a few years. My electrician who installed it, also commented on how nice it was.

Just my two cents.
 
I use a portable 16A 240V charger from Duosida. Been using it for 2 different cars over the past 4.5 years, with no problems.

Sorry to hear about your bad experience though. Hopefully MUSTART will cover the repair cost since it's their fault.
 
There are few things to think about differently with EVs. We take for granted that most gasoline sold won't wreck an engine, but I wonder if it was always like that? Now chargers.
 
At that link, it just says "charging partners". It doesn't say those are the only ones that work with a Kia. I would think if the charger is defective, of course they wouldn't cover it and the charger company should be liable. I have a chargepoint home charger and it works great. Never any problems and charges quite quickly. Can see charging details easily in their app including total kWh and cost based on my electric rate.
 
Kim J said:
Kim J
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Sounds like these Mustart chargers have a history of problematic performance. We might be lulled into thinking of our EVs as just another car and taking certain aspects for granted. This is a reminder that this is still a new technology with bugs, so we need to be a little more careful. At least product reviews are easy to find.

Mustart should cover the repair, IMO, not Kia. If they don't and this is a common enough problem, there is probably grounds for a class action. This is cold comfort for Kim, I know, but it does make sense.

Charge Port Meltdown | Chevy Bolt EV Forumhttps://www.chevybolt.org › threads › charge-port-melt...

There are a couple of melts or dramatic internal failure reviews on Amazon here.
https://www.amazon.com/product-revi...viewopt_sr?pageNumber=1&filterByStar=one_star

Even if this is a 1 in a 100 occurrence for their chargers, given the consequences of a catastrophic failure, this should not be bought. I hope they make it right for you, OP.
 
cwerdna said:
Thanks for mentioning Bolt. Reports of Bolt inlet damage/melting have been popping up on Bolt FB groups and at places like the below.

https://www.chevybolt.org/threads/charge-port-meltdown.39239/
https://www.chevybolt.org/threads/mustart-chargers-damaging-cars.39601/

I also agree about the disturbing trend of people buying random EVSEs from places iike Amazon. Don't do it. See https://www.chevybolt.org/threads/charge-port-meltdown.39239/page-2#post-621286 for my thoughts. Clipper Creek is no-frills but of good quality. Others like ChargePoint and Webasto (formerly the EV charging business of Aerovironment) should be fine.

I no fan of Siemens Versicharge but not from any sort danger of of melting or safety POV.
Click to expand...
I bought my JuiceBox from Amazon. I think the problem is the el cheapo no-names on Amazon.
 
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