A MUM was left fearing for her safety after she allegedly found her EV home charger had a dangerous issue.
Kimberley French, 35, says she was informed by two electricians that the fuse box BP installed to serve the charging point for her electric MG ZS was unsafe.
Kimberley French was left fearing for her safety after discovering a fault with her fuse box@Kimberley French
She found that the casing was not waterproof, with rain droplets finding away inside it@Kimberley French
Kimberley, from Rogiet, Wales, had the charger installed after buying the car in 2021.
In order for it to work, BP had to install a separate fuse box on the external wall of the house she shares with her six-year-old daughter.
However, she claims that an electrician who was fixing her bathroom lights told her that the box that had been used was only meant for internal installations and was not weatherproof.
Kimberley, who has a number of health conditions related to Asperger’s and Ehlers-Danloss syndrome, was stunned by the revelation that water could get into the 230-volt fusebox.
This was then allegedly confirmed by a second electrician who came out to fix her washing machine a few days later.
She contacted BP and sent off photos, which have been seen by The Sun Online and include a shot of droplets of water inside the fuse box.
According to Kimberley, the company told her they would send an engineer out on September 26, but they never turned up.
The next available date given to her was October 6, while BP also offered to pay for a private electrician if she could find one to do the work.
Since then, the engineer has come out and replaced the box.
She told The Sun Online: “It’s not safe, it was never waterproof.
“A lot of electricians won’t touch it because they didn’t install it.
“They can’t take on that responsibility”
Thankfully, her housing association, Pobl, were able to send someone out to address the issue within two days of being called.
The electrician, who was present when we spoke to Kimberley, wasn’t able to change the box as it was BP’s property, but placed a new waterproof box over it as a temporary fix.
With Storm Agnes coming in, the mum was “going out of her mind” with worry and now wants the issue resolved permanently.
She went on: “I don’t know how many people are in a dangerous situation.
“It should be reviewed on every other house [served by BP] to make sure it’s safe.
“I want it known that I haven’t sold my story, I rang The Sun because [BP] is such a humungous company.
“If it’s happening in Wales, there’s a 90% chance it’s happening somewhere else.”
Thankfully, Kimberley was still able to use her car as she had just charged it when she noticed the issue with the fuse box.
BP also credited her with £40 for public chargers while the problem was addressed.
When contacted by The Sun Online before the engineer was sent out, the company said that they had “not identified any immediate safety concerns” from the images but that they took Kimberley’s concerns “very seriously”.
A spokesperson added: “We believe in thorough investigation and are committed to ensuring the safety and functionality of our products.
“We recognise it’s disappointing to have an engineer appointment cancelled and rescheduled.
“However, our engineer fell ill, and we have rescheduled the appointment for next week during which, our engineer will thoroughly assess the installation.”
The box supplied the charger for her EV and was fitted on the exterior wall of her home@Kimberley French
Kimberley claimed that local electricians couldn’t help her as only BP, who installed the device, could take on the liability of repairs@Kimberley French
The company has since sent somebody out to address the problem, but initially said they had not identified ‘immediate safety concerns’@Kimberley French