JRP3
Hyperactive Member
Have you seen side impact videos? If the Volt pack in the middle tunnel of the vehicle is compromised I don't see how a Tesla pack on the edges of a vehicle would not be.
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... Survive = contain the stored electric energy inside for hours post-crash....
Have you seen side impact videos? If the Volt pack in the middle tunnel of the vehicle is compromised I don't see how a Tesla pack on the edges of a vehicle would not be.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKLXsGfE_fk
Post crash protocol should involve removing any remaining charge from the battery.
Whoa. If the battery is the single most expensive component in a BEV at a third of the car's cost, this is a big call. Given that completely draining a battery signs it's death warrant is there no other protocol that can be implemented? Breakers? A non-battery-lethal minimal left remaining charge? Crash accelerometers ?
If a shopping cart hits a BEV in a parking lot and it leads to a $30,000 battery replacement that kind of news will hurt the EV movement too.
I meant if the battery and/or cooling system is visibly damaged. Of course you would not do this for a fender bender!
Of course. The question here is at what level of even visible damage gets that decision made? Does a slight coolant drip have liability fearing, facility/inventory concerns have a impound yard owner sucking your car's value to half?
The question is how "empty" do they drain the pack? If they are using a constant current load the voltage will sag during the discharge but even when "empty" the voltage would spring back up when the load is off.
I'm pretty sure any car in this type of collision (side pole) would be totaled regardless of the existence of a battery pack in the car. Once an impact deforms the crash structure in any way (every side pole crash I have seen so far deforms the frame of the car in some significant way), I don't think it is possible to repair it and have it still function the same way in another accident.The Bad News :: If you get into one of these type of crashes the battery pack is probably totaled which means the car is totaled.