/biz/ - Business & Finance

>>57552422
EV traction batteries are serious. I'd give one more respect than 480 AC. For one, it's DC. There's a reason why DC contactors and fuses have to be built like brick shithouses compared to AC of the same current rating. 400V+ isn't uncommon these days either. In a year or two the good ones will be 800V+ because that lets you do things like DC fast charge 100 miles in 20 minutes. If you open a pack, you're exposing yourself to a transmission line amounts of danger.

>>57552546
They definitely do go up randomly on their own sometimes but yes most are during or just after use. Some shit rattles loose and puts fuel near electrics or hot bits, which all gas cars have. Sometimes it's bad maintenance, sometimes it's a manufacturing defect or design flaw. Toyota just recently recalled almost a couple million RAV4s over fire risk. The cause? The fucking 12V battery every car has lmao. Mount was bad so it can shake loose and rub the positive terminal around places it doesn't belong. Per the NHTSA:
>most of the fires occurred while driving, but four complaints indicate RAV4 fires occurred with the ignitions off.
There were 11 complaints in total, so 36% happened while the car was parked and seemingly inactive. Just one of many instances of a fire risk recall. Usually manufacturers aren't as good about fixing the problem. Ford recalled all their 2.5L hybrid powertrain cars twice now after dragging their feet, not solving the problem, then dragging their feet again. Oh it's just the hybrids? So it must be a traction battery problem? Nope. The engine will sometimes just leak fuel vapor onto the hot exhaust for fun. Fires can start during operation or for a bit after parking and turning the engine off. That's not an uncommon theme with car fires. You park, shut off the ignition, and walk away. A few minutes later the car is a fireball from a small leak in the engine compartment stagnating with the still hot exhaust.