3 ms·
> It’s a fuse plus guarantee plus liability. This is BMW we're talking about. Their guarantees are worth absolutely nothing if my experience is anything to go
by jacquesm 11mo ago
> It’s a fuse plus guarantee plus liability.
This is BMW we're talking about. Their guarantees are worth absolutely nothing if my experience is anything to go by and them accepting liability is not something you should have to pay 4K for if other brands can do the same thing under $100.
- jinzo 11mo agoI'm sure it depends on market, but I also know 100% that if they will certify the battery as safe, and then you get electrocuted when entering your car because the battery was not safe - they will be on the hook, in all developed markets. No one else, that cares about people safety, do the same thing for under $100. Even Tesla, that almost completely disregards any safety - be it "Full Self Driving" or "let's just change this, without checking if the battery is actually safe", does not do it under $100.
- jacquesm 11mo agoGiven that I've tried to hold BMW to their warranty and was shafted I would not bet on that.
- semanticist 11mo agoThere's a difference between BMW ignoring their warranty and who gets found liable during the wrongful death lawsuit after the mechanic gets electrocuted due to poor/unsafe EV design. I'm sure BMW would love to not be liable in those cases if they could just decide not to be liable, but inspections and fuses presumably turn out to be cheaper than the settlements they'd otherwise be paying.
- Glawen 11mo agoDo you realise how difficult it is to get "electrocuted" in a battery powered vehicle ? I suggest you document yourself on the matter. The only real issue in reality is thermal runaway
- amelius 11mo agoYeah, what is the max voltage of these batteries?
- jacquesm 11mo agoDepends on the brand and the model, there is a trend towards higher voltages because that implies lower currents and wiring is heavy and expensive. It started out with (nominally, voltage can rise and fall based on charge levels) (30S) 144V packs, (96S) 352V is very common and there are (192S) packs that do 704V (but that are marketed as 400V and 800V respectively). You don't want to get zapped by any of these, it's middle voltage DC which is quite dangerous, so the fuses definitely have a safety aspect in case of a crash, they are to protect emergency personnel from touching the frame and exposed wiring. But that's in case of a very serious crash, your average encounter with a rabbit might set off the crash detector (which can't really know ahead of time how bad a crash will be) but has extremely little chance of resulting in exposed wiring. In the case of BMW that rabbit could end up being pretty expensive.
- amelius 11mo agoYikes, that sounds dangerous. I'd personally prefer e.g. 48V even if that meant some more losses and/or thicker cables.
- Kirby64 11mo agoRunning an EV off 48V would lead to a heavily, heavily compromised vehicle. There just aren’t components that can handle 5-10kA of current with a reasonable size.
- amelius 11mo agoWhat parts of the car need that amount of current? Are you talking about the charging circuitry? What are the requirements for the motor(s)?
- ricardobeat 11mo agoThey mention in the article that replacing the same fuse on a Tesla cost €11.
- monegator 11mo agoThey'll refuse warranty on the XDrive if you don't use approved brand and model of tyres so... my bet is on them wanting to extort all the precious money they can from their poor customers
- OptionOfT 11mo agoThey'll refuse warranty if the difference between thread is too much between front and back as that causes wear of the clutches. Just like you should have the same tire on the same axle. Or if the tires are not the right size, especially in staggered setups. If you come from a car that is FWD with AWD capabilities, it doesn't matter as much. But BMW (at least the ones with the engine mounted longitudinally) which have xDrive are permanent AWD.
- petre 11mo agoThis is why the Chinese brands will eat their cake.