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With EV’s you can also light your battery on fire with incorrect software mods.

newnewpdro 7y ago
As a former gearhead I can say with authority that fires are not a new hazard for the hot-rodding community. I do think the electrocution risk is significantly higher though. Spilling gasoline on your hands and clothes while sloppily pulling off a fuel rail or fuel pump was benign. Spilling electricity all over you while sloppily removing and handling a large cumbersome massive battery pack with whatever improvised tools you had on hand sounds like an easy way to be killed.
- uxp100 7y ago
  I mean, maybe. I've seen accidents fiddling with conversion EVs 15 years ago, and you could say the same thing. Drop a wrench onto a battery pack and you no longer own a wrench, but bare skin contact with a few hundred volt pack isn't instant death. I wonder if oily rags are more dangerous than both.
  - newnewpdro 7y ago
    > I wonder if oily rags are more dangerous than both. Maybe if your vehicle uses Linseed oil...
stonogo 7y ago
Whereas internal combustion vehicles are well renowned for being completely impossible to burn.
wil421 7y ago
I can blow an engine with a super charger or turbo. A bad suspension mount or exhaust mod could bust a hole in the gas tank. A run away Diesel engine could melt itself.
jlg23 7y ago
Yes, if you are modding the battery controller itself or if it (the controller) is so fragile that it blows up the battery on request (i.e.: on "wrong" input). In the first case: uhm, yes, you knew the risk? In the second case: Sue everyone from coder to distributer and take the refund from whomever is deemed finally responsible by courts.
bacon_waffle 7y ago
It wouldn't be hard to destroy a modern ICE vehicle with incorrect software mods. ABS, fuel injection, ignition, transmission shifting, etc. are all computer-controlled... It is interesting how Tesla is apparently issuing updates over the air, where the important firmware in ICE cars is more-or-less left unchanged after manufacturing.

As a former gearhead I can say with authority that fires are not a new hazard for the hot-rodding community. I do think the electrocution risk is significantly higher though. Spilling gasoline on your hands and clothes while sloppily pulling off a fuel rail or fuel pump was benign. Spilling electricity all over you while sloppily removing and handling a large cumbersome massive battery pack with whatever improvised tools you had on hand sounds like an easy way to be killed.

uxp100 7y ago
I mean, maybe. I've seen accidents fiddling with conversion EVs 15 years ago, and you could say the same thing. Drop a wrench onto a battery pack and you no longer own a wrench, but bare skin contact with a few hundred volt pack isn't instant death. I wonder if oily rags are more dangerous than both.
- newnewpdro 7y ago
  > I wonder if oily rags are more dangerous than both. Maybe if your vehicle uses Linseed oil...

stonogo 7y ago

Whereas internal combustion vehicles are well renowned for being completely impossible to burn.

wil421 7y ago

I can blow an engine with a super charger or turbo. A bad suspension mount or exhaust mod could bust a hole in the gas tank. A run away Diesel engine could melt itself.

jlg23 7y ago

Yes, if you are modding the battery controller itself or if it (the controller) is so fragile that it blows up the battery on request (i.e.: on "wrong" input). In the first case: uhm, yes, you knew the risk? In the second case: Sue everyone from coder to distributer and take the refund from whomever is deemed finally responsible by courts.

bacon_waffle 7y ago

It wouldn't be hard to destroy a modern ICE vehicle with incorrect software mods. ABS, fuel injection, ignition, transmission shifting, etc. are all computer-controlled... It is interesting how Tesla is apparently issuing updates over the air, where the important firmware in ICE cars is more-or-less left unchanged after manufacturing.