Master Cutoff Switch

[Dan Bennett]

It's sort of a side step instead of a total thread derail, but I'm pretty amazed that no one seems to be concerned with batteries in electric cars.


Ever seen a vid on Youtube where some idiot shorts the battery of a vaping device and it goes into thermal runaway? Hellfire and carnage results.


Teslas use the same battery. But they have 8000 of them in their battery packs. Haven't heard a peep from the NHTSA, nor DOT for that matter.

[Pat McCue]

I'll take a shot at answering the master cut off switch for electric vehicles question.. Jeff, team and I built the eCOPO as well as the orange car "Shock and Awe" that has run around division 6 for a few years.

All our cars, per General Rule 8.4, have master cut off switches. They are push off and clearly marked. When pushed they remove all low voltage power to the rest of the car (including to the low voltage components that connect the high voltage to the propulsion system).

We also have an "oh-sh#*" switch on the dash, that if ever needed (hasn't been needed in almost 175 electric runs) would remove 12v power to the master contactor in the hv motor system. That too is push off. That does not remove 12v power from the entire vehicle, just disconnects the HV.

Here's a picture of the back of the orange high school car.....
Pat

[FireSale]

Originally Posted by Pat McCue

I'll take a shot at answering the master cut off switch for electric vehicles question.. Jeff, team and I built the eCOPO as well as the orange car "Shock and Awe" that has run around division 6 for a few years.

All our cars, per General Rule 8.4, have master cut off switches. They are push off and clearly marked. When pushed they remove all low voltage power to the rest of the car (including to the low voltage components that connect the high voltage to the propulsion system).

We also have an "oh-sh#*" switch on the dash, that if ever needed (hasn't been needed in almost 175 electric runs) would remove 12v power to the master contactor in the hv motor system. That too is push off. That does not remove 12v power from the entire vehicle, just disconnects the HV.

Here's a picture of the back of the orange high school car.....
Pat

Thank you for the answer. In regards to the questions about EV cutoffs from others, the rule book has cutoff switch requirements. It must disconnect the motor and power pack. It's in the EV section buried up with ET Snowmobiles.

[Ed Carpenter]

Travis, I’m guilty of not having mine labeled. Thanks for the reminder, I will address it.