electrics from the outside

Nov 23, 2022 Last reply: 3 years ago 7 Replies
T

An EV owner got caught out when their 12V battery died and the emergency key wouldn’t open the door lock as the lock barrel hadn’t been connected up in the factory.



Apparently the AA jacked up the near side front wheel, had a fiddle underneath and were able to plug in a battery somewhere which provided enough power to boot the system.



Now I know my emergency key works so I can alway open my bonnet it I get caught out but it would be handy to know (if only to satisfy idle curiosity) what circuit the AA man tapped into. As far as I’m away, no wires were cut and they presumably plugged into the loom into a circuit that is normally permanently live.



It was a 2020 “First edition” Kia Soul. Although it’s an EV, much of the



12V side of things is pretty similar to a regular car. What kind of circuits accessible from underneath might be permanently live and hence, useable to power up the 12V system?

Tim


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B

My guess is they accessed the back of the fuse box somehow.

On my hybrid, there is a place under the bonnet to ‘jump start’ the 12v system - it is (roughly) over the near side front wheel in a fuse box. I’ve never checked if the wiring is visible behind the wheel arch shield.

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T

I don’t think so. I have the same car and there’s no way you can access the fusebox from underneath.

Tim

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P

Is this a car where they build the car around the 12V battery in the wing?

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T

Is there maybe access to something on Canbus that might have a 12V on the connector? For example the body control ECU might be live if it's used for the alarm. I doubt you'd get much current into it that way, but maybe enough to hold up a weak but not 0V lead acid battery enough to open the high voltage battery contactor?

Theo

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T

No, just towards the front of the engine compartment like many ICE vehicles.

Tim

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T

Sounds plausible. I don’t think it needs a huge current to boot things up. When the weather is better I will have a rummage under my car.

Tim

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G

Not that vehicle, but I had a car with flat battery. Connected a charger to the starter motor cable, which was accessible if you raised the car 2 inches, other end to engine block. Left it overnight. Lucky it was home, not stuck in some narrow village road.

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