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A man in Australia died after using an incompatible charger on a electric scooter which he had recently purchased. That unwise decision led to the scooter battery exploded and burned 90 percent of his body. He died a day later in intensive care.
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The sad story is a good reminder that if you have something to do with a lithium ion battery that needs to be connected, whether it is a car, motorcycle, e-bike or scooter, you may only use the charger specifically made for that vehicle.
Using any other random charger that happens to fit into the charging port may cause a fire and may even cause the battery to explode.
In this case, Shepparton News reports that the victim received a used electric scooter two weeks before the accident. When he decided to charge it, he used a charger that his friend apparently stole (we have questions about that), but it was not compatible with the scooter.
He plugged in the scooter before going to bed with his pregnant girlfriend, and 20 minutes later they woke up to the fire. That’s how quickly lithium-ion batteries can burn out uncontrollably.
He ran to the fire and yelled at his girlfriend to jump out of a window, which she did. Then the scooter’s battery exploded so violently that a neighbor said it shook her house as a fireball shot into the air.
In other words, it was quite an explosion. That was with a tiny battery, so you can imagine what a vehicle like a car with a much larger lithium-ion would do if it was connected to the wrong charger.
If you get a used vehicle with a lithium-ion battery and no charger, you really need to pay the money to get a compatible charger from the manufacturer. The consequences of not getting one are dire.
Image via Mearth Technology/Pexels