Electric car incident

[ianc]

This morning, Maddy was driving along a clear and straight country road near Great Kimble when the car in front slowed from 50 mph and then, without any warning, stopped dead.

Maddy stopped behind it and went to ask if the driver was OK.

He was fuming because his electric machine had run out of charge - hence no warning lights (brakes, trafficators) when it stopped.

I wonder whether the hazard warning lights would operate in such an emergency?

What would happen in such a situation on one of these so-called Smart Motorways - at least on a petrol or diesel car with manual gearbox one could freewheel a reasonable distance and get the hazard warning lights going.

Ian Cornish

[stuart]

He obviously wasnt paying attention to all the warnings that must have come up on the dash sometime before then.

Stuart.

[Tony_C]

Not sure what he could have done ‘on a straight country road’ Stuart?

[ntc]

41 minutes ago, stuart said:

He obviously wasnt paying attention to all the warnings that must have come up on the dash sometime before then.

Stuart.

+1 it’s as stupid as running out of petrol 

[stuart]

2 hours ago, Tony_C said:

Not sure what he could have done ‘on a straight country road’ Stuart?

It would have told him how much charge was left in miles, he was obviously not paying attention to what it was telling him, theres no accounting for stupid.

Stuart.

[HSM]

You need to carry a Zip Charge Go in the boot, about the size of a suitcase and can

re charge your EV for approx. 20 mls. Like carrying a full fuel  can in the boot for combustion

engines. Mind you its about as useful as an empty fuel can if not charged up.

 

                                             Harvey

[Charlie D]

3 hours ago, ianc said:

his electric machine had run out of charge - hence no warning lights (brakes, trafficators) when it stopped.

If his battery was totally empty, how would he know that he had run out of charge?

The fact that no brake lights had come on means that there was nothing at all left in the battery.

It suggests that his dashboard must have also gone blank, thereby not being able to tell him what the problem was.

 

Surely there must always be something left in the battery , although not enough to power the motor.

Aren’t the door locks on electric cars electric as well?

Did that mean he would be stuck in there, a prisoner in his own vehicle, until a man with a few spare volts in the back of his van came to free him?

[RogerH]

Usually when a heavy load is removed from a flat battery the battery will recover very quickly for light loads.

So the hazard lights/brake lights should have come on. - maybe.

 

Roger

[Harbottle]

1 hour ago, Charlie D said:

If his battery was totally empty, how would he know that he had run out of charge?

I agree with Stuart, he was not paying attention to the instruments telling him his levels were low.No doubt the warnings were also helping to drain the battery as well. He probably decided he had enough power to get to where he wanted to go based on manufacturers claims before he set off.

Paul

[RobH]

Even when a BEV is showing 0 range, there is still charge in the battery but the car control system won't let you use it to drive with. A lithium battery should never be discharged below about 25% of capacity as if it does it will be damaged, so the makers design their cars so that the drive cuts out before the battery gets that low. The mileage range you are shown usually corresponds to a charge range from 30% to 85% of actual battery capacity. 

There is usually an auxiliary 12v battery to power things like radio, door-locks, indicators and headlights and that is charged from the traction battery. The battery management system should not let the charge get so low that it cannot function itself, else you could never recharge the car.  Leaving an EV for a long period so the auxiliary battery runs down can mean you can't start the car or even get into it. 

If this chap had no lights at all then there was probably a fault, not merely a discharged traction battery. 

 

 

 

Edited November 4, 2021 by RobH
typo

[Peter Cobbold]

With one of these in the boot, you get 10 hp-worth of 'lecky, enough to limp home. https://generator-pro.co.uk/product/clearance-hyundai-hy10000le-lpg-the-7-0kw-8-75kva-recoil-electric-start-dual-fuel-site-petrol-lpg-generator/

providing you dont use heater, wiper, headlights....

I wonder how many buyers of ecars find that range anxiety dissuades them from buying another.

Peter

[Charlie D]

I do think you are all being a bit unfair on this poor bloke.

Several of you accuse him of being stupid, ignoring messages on his dashboard, and that people like him should never be allowed in the driving seat of a car again.

Look at the facts. All you know is that his car stopped suddenly and that he assumed that it was because he had run out of charge.

Possibly (Just possibly…) he could have suffered an electrical fault. Too thin an earth strap between the engine and the chassis? Dodgy connection to the battery negative post? Paranormal activity effecting his chips --- The incident did happen close to Aylesbury, a well known place for such things to happen. (Ask the Prof. Peter He knows about these things...)

All I hope is that the next time I appear in court that none of you are on the Jury. It would be thumbs-down before you’d even closed the Jury Room door.

 

Charlie.

[harlequin]

20 minutes ago, Peter Cobbold said:

With one of these in the boot, you get 10 hp-worth of 'lecky, enough to limp home. https://generator-pro.co.uk/product/clearance-hyundai-hy10000le-lpg-the-7-0kw-8-75kva-recoil-electric-start-dual-fuel-site-petrol-lpg-generator/

providing you dont use heater, wiper, headlights....

I wonder how many buyers of ecars find that range anxiety dissuades them from buying another.

Peter

My daughter in-laws has a 4 year old electric Mercedes, they are more or less obliged to sell it because the range of newer models has improved to a point where the value of a 4 year old e car is falling very quickly and in a year or 2 it will be worth nothing.

George 

 

[Crawfie]

He should’ve bought a “battery can “ to put in the boot for emergencies ,,,,,

[mike3md]

The useable range of EVs has improved a lot in recent years.

An EV running out of charge is the same as an ICE running out of fuel, and in an EV you have many more warnings going off in the car many miles before it completely stops - in fact an EV will attempt to eke out the remaining charge by automatically disconnecting any ancillaries (such as seat heating, climate control) as the charge level drops below set points. A total failure as described by Ian would suggest the 12v battery was also dead flat. As Rob says the BMS should not let the 12v battery get so low nothing functions, so it suggests a fault as well as a numpty driver.

 

[ianc]

Maddy adds that the driver was able to open his car door, but that the window motor wouldn't lower the driver's window.

The driver admitted that he hadn't charged the battery fully before setting off.

Having determined that he was not ill or needing her help, she left him phoning for a recovery vehicle.

Ian Cornish

[Harbottle]

We have all overlooked one obvious reason for his sudden loss of power? . He had reached the end of his extension lead and the plug had pulled out 

Paul

[stuart]

16 hours ago, Peter Cobbold said:

With one of these in the boot, you get 10 hp-worth of 'lecky, enough to limp home. https://generator-pro.co.uk/product/clearance-hyundai-hy10000le-lpg-the-7-0kw-8-75kva-recoil-electric-start-dual-fuel-site-petrol-lpg-generator/

providing you dont use heater, wiper, headlights....

I wonder how many buyers of ecars find that range anxiety dissuades them from buying another.

Peter

Already out of stock, someone took your advice Peter.

Stuart.

[Charlie D]

1 hour ago, Harbottle said:

He had reached the end of his extension lead and the plug had pulled out 

When I was about 5 years old (1955) I remember watching “Fabian of Scotland Yard”. A TV police drama.

At some point in the program a police man, being driven in a car, used a telephone hand set to talk to the police station. I asked my dad how was he able to do that. My dad replied that there was another policeman sitting in the boot with a drum of wire that went back to the police station. For several years I wondered how he would reel it all back in at the end of the journey.

Charlie

[Lebro]

[kiwican]

21 hours ago, harlequin said:

My daughter in-laws has a 4 year old electric Mercedes, they are more or less obliged to sell it because the range of newer models has improved to a point where the value of a 4 year old e car is falling very quickly and in a year or 2 it will be worth nothing.

George 

 

I know very little about EV's but if a new battery pack were to be fitted would that not solve the the range issue, and perhaps be cheaper than trade? That assumes a new battery pack is compatible with a 4 year old car.

 

Simon

[MilesA]

No unique to EVs.

A friend has a petrol Mercedes SLC. A bunch of warning lights had come up on the dash and so she drove it to her garage for inspection and repair. As she was driving onto the garage premises everything on the car just died - including brakes and steering (although I suspect she lost the servos on them and they would have worked with more effort) - only managed to bring it to a halt by wrenching the hand brake. The fault apparently is a 'known' one, although rare. She has lost a lot of confidence in driving the car though.

Also happened with my 3A a few months ago when the coil gave up. I did have some warning signs in the last 15 minutes of my journey before it suddenly died. At least my brake lights worked and I was able to get out and give it good kicking push off the road.

Miles

[harlequin]

2 hours ago, kiwican said:

I know very little about EV's but if a new battery pack were to be fitted would that not solve the the range issue, and perhaps be cheaper than trade? That assumes a new battery pack is compatible with a 4 year old car.

 

Simon

My son lives in Norway where new e-cars are subsidised, so I suspect that the cost of the battery pack and then the labour charge on top would be more then the cars value.

The car runs really well, it's just the range is less then a new one so it will soon be a choice of running the car untill it dies or another new one and unfortunately there is no knowing how long it will last as there are very few that are much older. On top of that would you like to try diy repairs on something with ability to light you up if you touch the wrong part

George 

[Charlie D]

Just spotted this:

https://www.thesun.co.uk/motors/16656971/shoppers-furious-tesla-runs-out-battery/

 

 

[RobH]

Trouble is you can't move the things by pushing or towing them because the motor can't usually be disconnected (i.e. no neutral  gear).   I did read that someone has invented wheels with rotating hubs that can be fitted as a temporary measure, to allow such cars to be moved out of the way.