Tesla under pressure for Nanchang charging issue

American electric automaker Tesla apologized on Monday for a Nanchang car owner's problems encountered while charging his vehicle, and said the company is carrying out tests and an investigation on the cause of the issue.

The owner surnamed Tu said his new Tesla Model 3 wouldn't start after charging the vehicle at a charging station in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province. He said his car rattled and a series of error codes were displayed on the control panel. 

"I contacted Tesla's after-sales service department, but that didn't fix the problem," Tu said. "So I had to leave my car in the parking lot overnight. I couldn't even roll up the window."

A Tesla after-sales service employee said the current running through the State Grid was too high at the time, which caused the overload and burned out the inverter. 

Tesla has offered to replace the damaged parts, but Tu said such a serious problem only six days after purchasing it warrants replacing the car with a new one.

This incident sparked a discussion on SinaWeibo, and the State Grid Corporation’s Nanchang branch responded to the issue on the platform yesterday.

A State Grid official said its current is stable, and equipment connected to the charging poles is operating normally. The official added that the car was connected to the automaker’s charging device, not directly to State Grid's power circuit, and suggested the company launch an investigation.