Thursday, February 23, 2012

Service- my i!

All proper homebuilt EV's have some manner of emergency disconnect that the driver can use to mechanically disconnect the battery pack for either emergent or prudent purposes, such as when servicing the car. Not so with the OEM EV. My i has a 'service plug' to interrupt the high voltage system, but it resides in cramped quarters below the driver's seat, beneath a wing-nutted metal cover.

Not something one can easily access when the pedal sticks at highway speed! (at least our cars have one failsafe in the EVent of 'unintended acceleration'- you only have to avoid obstacles for 20-30 minutes at speed before the car runs out of juice!)


Being undeterred by the multilingual warning label, I removed the safety disconnect's safety cover.
Below here, one operates more on feel than sight, pulling forward the orange lever and lifting up the plug.

The insert has two not-oversized pins for the traction power, and two little signal pins that probably carry 12V. It snaps back in position as easily as it comes out, and the car comes back to life, memories intact.
Happy Motoring!

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