The EV is on fire: Don't cut that orange wire

Both major parties got a little bit of a surprise in November, 2010. The surprise CAN get worse for them both.

What's going to happen in 2012? Will the libertarians win? Will we dump the Federal reserve and the FDA and the DEA and the EPA? Will we balance the budget and close down all the foreign military bases?

Sure and pigs will be flying all over too.

Not usually. We cut the battery cables as a last resort. I like to just pull the connector if possible. But it depends on the damage. In the case of an EV you don't want to cut the cable because then you have a high voltage source out in the open. Not a good thing. Also if the vehicle is a hybrid you could have fuel leakage. Ever see the spark that a high voltage cable causes when it grounds out?

And then you're left with one live cable end flopping around in the engine compartment,

What they need is a 'disposable' cable cutter. An insulated clamp that can be placed around the cable. This clamp would contain an insulated (ceramic?) blade that could be driven through the cable either by an external actuator or a lanyard fired charge (like a nail gun). Once cut, the head of the cutter would remain on the cable, protecting it from contact with the surrounding vehicle frame.

That summarizes gvt stupidity in a nutshell.