Last Update: April 21, 2019
Theoretically the automobile companies are staffed with engineers who know how to make safe automobiles. Electric car charging equipment and protocols have been carefully designed for safe use even in the rain. But of course automotive engineers are all human, and therefore automobiles are flawed because humans cannot avoid making flawed things. While electric car charging stations have been carefully designed, the question is whether your electric car can be damaged during the charging process?
Bottom line is the risk for damage is exceedingly small. The engineers involved did a good job of designing charging connectors that work well mechanically and electrically. A high degree of safety measures were designed-in, and for the vast majority of the time you can rest assured there won't be a problem.
But, of course, there will be exceptions.
One instance is the risk of a charging cord getting stuck in the car. You might start a charging session and then be unable to remove the plug from the car. Or in other cases you may be unable to remove the cord from the charging station. See What to do if the charging cord is stuck, cannot be removed
The pins and latches in the charging plug may become bent or misshapen.
Some reports indicate this can then cause the pins and latches in the charging port to get mangled.
Another case comes from the early days of the Honda Fit EV. That car is designed with a maximum 40 amp charging rate, which is great because it's a faster charging speed than the typical 32 amp charging rate. But there was an unfortunate combination of behaviors when a Honda Fit EV was connected to a Blink charging station. Blink charging stations have charging cords that only support a 24 amp charging rate. Somehow Honda Fit EV's were getting overheated charging connectors at Blink charging stations, damaging the charging port.
The J1772 charging protocol is supposed to negotiate the charging rate when the cord is plugged into the car. Between the maximum charging rate supported by the charging station, and the maximum rate supported by the car, is the charging rate to be used in that charging session.
For this to have occurred, the Blink charging stations must have implemented the charging protocol incorrectly. Correctly implemented the charging protocol doesn't allow that circumstance to happen. But, humans create flawed things, and any software engineer will tell you that bugs exist everywhere.
