How to Start an Electric Car With a Flat Battery
If you’re new to electric vehicles or starting to explore options for an upcoming purchase, you may not know that in addition to the high-voltage battery pack that powers the engine, they also use the same 12-volt batteries. as gas cars. And yes, these 12 volt batteries can lose charge and prevent your car from starting.
But the good news is that they can also be launched from an external source, including a gas-powered vehicle. In an article for Kelly’s Blue Book, Chris Hardesty covers the entire process. Here’s what you need to know.
Safety concerns when starting a battery in an electric vehicle
Before moving on to how to make the leap, we would like to point out some of the security concerns that Hardesty raises in the article:
- While it is possible to jump over a 12-volt battery in an EV, never attempt to run their high-voltage lithium-ion batteries from an external source.
- Do not use an electric vehicle (EV) to run another 12V battery. “The charging points of an electric vehicle are designed to start the vehicle itself from an external source, not to aid another vehicle in starting from an external source,” Hardesty writes.
- A car that gives an electric car a “jerk” must have a 12-volt battery with a negative grounding system, which Hardesty says is typical of gas-powered cars.
- The instructions below provide a general overview of how to start electric vehicle batteries, but be sure to check the owner’s manual first in case a particular make / model requires special handling.
- You can also use a handheld jump start device on a 12-volt electric vehicle battery.
How to start a 12-volt battery in an electric vehicle from an external source
In his article, Hardesty gives the following instructions for starting a discharged 12-volt battery in an electric vehicle:
- Arrange the cars . Place two cars, an electric car and a car with a good battery, next to each other so that they do not touch.
- Apply the brake . Engage parking and apply the parking brake.
- Turn everything off . Make sure you turn off the headlights and accessories in both vehicles.
- Connect the positive terminals . You are now ready to connect one end of the red positive (+) cable to the positive (+) terminal of the discharged battery. When finished, connect the other end of the positive (+) jumper cable to the positive (+) terminal of the auxiliary battery on the vehicle.
- Attach the negative terminals . Then connect one end of the black negative (-) cable to the negative (-) terminal of the good battery. Now connect the negative (-) jumper cable to the negative (-) ground point of the discharged battery.
- Check . Make sure the amplifier cables are away from moving parts and that the clips have good metal contact with the battery terminals and charging points.
- Start the donation vehicle . Take a car with a good battery and start it up.
- Start the electric vehicle . Finally, try starting the vehicle with a discharged battery.
Read the full Hardesty article for more tips, including how to disconnect jumper cables.