Safety precautions to be taken while working on electric vehicles.

Working on an electric or hybrid vehicle can be demanding as EVs, and hybrid vehicles have much more complex working mechanisms than that ICE vehicles. These vehicles are high voltage vehicles and can fry up a person without considering safety precautions.

Most people don’t acknowledge hybrid systems; most hybrid systems are labelled and can be recognized easily, while some have complex and hidden wired systems and cannot be recognized by the person working on them. Working on unrecognized hybrid electric vehicles can cost you Dearly; sometime, it may be life-threatening.  

To work on EVs or hybrid vehicles, complete training and knowledge are required. If a person lacks both, the results can be very drastic. You can gain access to a wide range of educational projects and meetings on the reform and development opportunities both in real time and online.

Due to the increased number of EVs, hybrid vehicles, and their users worldwide, more individuals must gain basic EV and hybrid repairing skills. With semi-auto electric vehicles more careful, considerations should be followed because of the high voltages on the wires and complicated wiring scheme.

Working on EVs/ hybrids should be taken more cautiously. Safety precautions that should be followed while working on EVs/ hybrids are the following:

4 Possible Safety Precautions, Prior to work on EVs

  • Removing high voltage 
  • Safety gloves 
  • Safety Glasses
  • Insulating mats 

Removing high voltage 

Removing the high voltage source or shutting it completely off is mandatory to work on EVs or hybrid vehicles. High voltage wires cannot be cut or wrapped directly. In hybrid vehicles, orange wire carries the high voltage from the battery to the frontal functioning system. The wiring and voltage of hybrid vehicles are usually of two types.

These wires are mostly insulated with orange colour sheets; however, some companies use blue. The battery should be disconnected as it contains high voltage.

While working on hybrid vehicles, it is mandatory not to touch the high voltage wire. Even after disconnecting batteries, it retains a high amount of voltage energy; before handling batteries, the batteries’ power should be drained.

First Ensure that the battery is disconnected and then test the battery with testing tools and kits that it does not have any remaining power. The battery’s power is usually checked with the testing tool known as GS38.

Safety gloves 

One must need to wear gloves while working on EVs or HEVs. If you don’t use safety gloves, the high voltage of batteries may frost you generously. For safety concerns wearing gloves are must.

You can use two types of gloves while working on EVs or electric hybrid vehicles. You can use both rubber and lineman gloves. However, these gloves do not have to be straight or flexible gloves; There is an exceptional flexibility and control gloves for linear cutting electric or half compounds.

Each glove air has its own maximum AC and DC voltage limits. The following graphs show voltage limits for AC and DC currents with their specific color label. The color label also indicates gloves usage for different voltages. Each limited voltage allowed for gloves usage can also be identified by the color label pasted.

Graph For Ac

Graph For DC

Safety Glasses / Face shield

To work on welding and batteries containing chemical compounds that can damage both eyes and eyesight, wear safety glasses. Safety goggles provide a maximum degree of safety for the eyes of the workers and other kind and tissues. 

Enjoy the safety of the scope of a decent glasses impending bright beams coming out of the battery. It is necessary to wear a face protection mask and safety glasses for maximum eye and face protection.  Safety glasses should have the following properties when used for EVs and hybrid electric vehicles.

Insulating mats 

With the increase in EV purchases and uses, there will also be a great need for repair and maintenance. There are many hazards associated with working on EVs or hybrid vehicles.

Usually, EVs and EHVs have high voltage battery and wiring system. It carries high voltage than that of the ICE vehicles. Work on electric vehicles require more care and precautions than any other vehicle. The shock from electric or hybrid vehicles can be fatal and life-threatening.

To reduce the risks of shocks, insulated rubber mats should be used in workplaces and garages where the risk of shocks is relatively high. Rubber is dielectric and prevents electric current from passing and making the circuit.

There is a wide variety of insulated rubber mats available in shops and online stores. The best places to find insulated rubber mats are (1) https://www.amazon.com/s?k=insulated+mats&ref=nav_bb_sb , (2) https://www.alibaba.com//trade/search?fsb=y&IndexArea=product_en&CatId=&SearchText=rubber+insulated+mats  and many other online stores.

What “Safety Issues” of Electric Vehicles, If precautions aren’t taken.

The safety issues concerned with electric and hybrid vehicles can be dangerous and fatal if ignored and not taken seriously. The workers can suffer due to safety issues in EVs and hybrid vehicles. There are several safety issues in electric and hybrid vehicles, but the main few safety issues are follows.

Explosion of battery 

The primary safety issue in EVs and hybrid vehicles is that their battery can explode. The degree of explosion cases is low but still the risk is there. Most cases of EV battery explosions have been calculated.

The main reason for the explosion of the battery is that it assembles lethal synthetic material or battery damage due to speed. The battery explosion is dangerous and life-threatening, especially the fumes produced by the blast.  

 

Electric shocks 

The primary safety issue in EVs and EHVs is electric shocks. They use batteries running on high voltage ranges from 60V-600V. In some cases, it is 1300V, so the electric shocks that the EVs and EHVs can give can be hazardous. People working in workshops and garages for EV and EHVs repairing must be cautious about electric shocks. 

Battery Fire  

Electric vehicles and hybrid vehicle batteries can get fire. These vehicle batteries are made of lithium-ion, and lithium-ion battery fire is the most dangerous fire and hard to control. The main reason for EVs and EHVs battery fire is low quality and defective components in the battery.

Another leading cause of EV and EHV fire is fire-catching liquids in batteries. In lithium-ion batteries, the chances of the battery catching fire are high due to closed placed electrodes.

In addition to this, the flammable liquids used in batteries can start boiling in a thermal runaway situation and get fire. Lithium-ion batteries burn significantly hotter and are very hard to cool after the fire; in some cases, it is observed that it takes days to cool its residue down. 

Electrocution hazards & Precautions  while working on electric vehicles

You must need to drive your EVs very carefully. There are many electrocution hazards while you move your electric vehicle. How? and why? That is the question.  To get your answers in detail and other EVs information’s stay in touch with our website vehicleambasadors.com. If you are EV lover than this website is for you.

What should be removed before work on electric vehicles (Precautions) ?

Prior to work on EVs, there are 4 possible precautions to be taken care of. First, need to take precautionary steps and some functions are supposed to remove.

  • Disconnect charger
  • Turn ignition off 
  • Disconnect battery
  • Other connectors

Disconnect charger

First thing first, before working on EVs, you just need to disconnect the charger and remove the cable from the charging port. When the charger is connected to the port, it actively supplies electric power to the battery, which can be very dangerous for the workers and vehicle batteries. So, it is compulsory to remove the charger.

Turn ignition off 

Before working on EVs try to turn off the ignition. Switch on ignition keeps the battery active, which can cause harm to the worker and may result in a severe explosion sometimes and can cause a fire. So, turn the ignition off and remove the keys from the switch. 

Disconnect battery

EV batteries carry the highest electric power, bringing severe threats of shocks and electric current and cause deaths if not appropriately handled. To avoid hazards and associated risks, one should disconnect the battery from active power sources and cables. All other active ports should also be detached, and one should wait for the battery to drain all the electric current. Electric power can still be there in the battery even after disconnection better way is to wait for them to draw all the electric power.

Other connectors

There can also be some other connectors running charge or power; this can cause threats. Most of the connectors are high power cables, mostly in red color and other port cables like heater cables. While working on an EV, besides other precautionary steps like battery turn off, charger removing and turning off the ignition. Turning off and removing all other active connectors connected to the vehicle system is also mandatory.