Electric cars are increasingly appearing on the streets, leading to situations where users need to know how to handle when the car suddenly cannot continue to operate.
According to a technician at the Ninety Eight Auto Repair, Maintenance and Care Center (Cat Lai ward, Ho Chi Minh City), one of the incidents that causes much concern is that the car is moving and then loses its ability to operate in the middle of the road, which may affect traffic and potentially create a risk of collision.
When encountering this situation, the first thing the driver needs to do is to remain calm, observe the vehicle's condition and ensure safety for people in the vehicle as well as surrounding vehicles.
If the car is still capable of moving and no immediate stop warning appears, the driver can move the car to a safe location according to the manufacturer's instructions.
In case the vehicle cannot continue to operate, the driver should turn on the hazard warning light, take necessary warning measures and ensure safety before leaving the vehicle. Do not try to continue operating if the vehicle shows a serious warning or the system does not allow the vehicle to move.
According to Ninety Eight Auto, electric cars use many electronic systems, controllers and protection mechanisms. The car's loss of operation may stem from many different causes, including low voltage sources, control systems, software or components related to powertrains and high voltages.
On many electric cars, in addition to high-voltage batteries, there are also low-voltage systems, often using auxiliary batteries to power controllers and auxiliary devices. When low-voltage power sources have problems, some electronic systems of the car may operate unstablely or cannot start up to a standby state.
Some electric car models have a process of turning off, on, or restarting the system according to the manufacturer's instructions. Users should only perform the operations specified in the car's user manual. Do not arbitrarily remove the battery pole, disconnect the power cord or perform operations based on word of mouth when you do not clearly understand the structure of the vehicle.
In particular, users should not arbitrarily interfere with the high voltage battery system. Parts of this system can be dangerous if operated incorrectly and need to be checked and repaired by a person with appropriate expertise.
Even if the car can operate again after turning off and restarting the system, it does not mean that the problem has been completely resolved. Car owners should still take the vehicle to a service facility or repair unit capable of checking electric cars to read the fault code, identify the cause and handle it technically correctly.
When the car cannot continue to operate and needs rescue, the car owner should not arbitrarily pull the car in the usual way. The transportation method depends on the design of each car model and needs to be implemented according to the manufacturer's instructions. In some cases, the car needs to be transported by specialized vehicles to limit the risk of affecting the powertrain.
Calm handling, not arbitrarily intervening in high voltage systems and choosing appropriate rescue plans are important principles to help limit risks when electric cars suddenly stop in the middle of the road.
