Electric vehicle catches fire at Yukon charging station

An electric vehicle caught fire at the Army Beach charging station in the Yukon's Southern Lakes region on Friday.

Nobody was injured. A bystander reported that the road was blocked off by fire crews in the early afternoon. The electric sedan was wrapped in police tape and left at the scene. Both the interior and exterior of the car were badly damaged, as well as the charging station. The Marsh Lake fire chief confirmed on social media that an investigation is underway.

Calvin Gillings, the car's owner, told CBC News that his Subaru Solterra was refusing to take a charge that morning — a problem he'd repeatedly encountered at the government's level 3 fast charging stations since purchasing the vehicle.

Once he coaxed the car into charging, it began smoking under the hood. The smoking stopped when it was disconnected, so he reconnected it, worrying his car would die at the station. 

"And then it actually caught fire underneath my wife's seat," Gillings said. After failing to extinguish the fire, they grabbed their possessions and backed away from the vehicle with their dog.

"Within 20 minutes, that car was fully engulfed in flames," Gillings said.

Gillings purchased the car in November to commute from his home in Marsh Lake to work in Whitehorse. He saved $1,300 in fuel every month, which made the significant cost of purchasing the car and upgrading his electrical panel worthwhile.

Gillings suspects the fire was caused by a malfunction with his vehicle, and not with the charging station. When he purchased the car, he was warned by the dealership not to plug into a level 3 fast charger more than once a day.

Still, Gillings says he's unlikely to purchase another electric car. He found it challenging to drive long distances in the winter. He said a cold day's commute would consume 80 per cent of his battery, and it was stressful trying to connect to a fast changer for a boost. The car fire was the last straw, he said.

"I'm a bit traumatized from the whole experience," Gillings said.

The Army Beach charging station was installed in 2020 as part of the Yukon government's fast charging network. It's one of 19 community charge stations. Most of them are level 3 fast charging stations. The stations are publicly funded and free to use.

The government previously said the Army Beach charging station would be part of a study into the efficiency of electric vehicles in cold climates. The three-year study was partially funded by the federal government.