Dealing With 12V Batteries In EVs

DEALING WITH 12V BATTERIES

IN EVS

For many EV owners, it can come as a big surprise when they find out that their Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) contains a 12 Volt battery as a critical component in its electrical system. In fact, virtually every EV model in North America is configured with a 12 Volt battery among its components. Although this may seem anachronistic, once you break it down, it makes a lot of sense.

Many subsystems within the EV electrical system utilize low voltage power to run them. In many cases, the system will have a stand-alone 12V battery and in others, the 12V battery system with be embedded within the larger high voltage battery. But, what role

does it serve within the overall EV electrical system? A recent magazine article provided this helpful quote from a Hyundai engineer: “All the ECUs in the vehicle are powered from the low voltage, as well as the power relays that separate power from the highvoltage battery pack and the rest of the high-voltage network in the car,” he said. “That separation allows us to safely disconnect the high voltage from the low voltage when the vehicle is not being driven or in the event of a crash.”

You might think that the presence of a 12 Volt battery only applies to EVs from legacy manufactures, but it is true for Tesla as well. Recent Model S and X productions have switched to lithium 12V batteries, while older Model S and X, as well as all vintages of Model 3 and Y, utilize AGM lead acid 12V batteries. In fact, this was an evolution from the early Roadsters, which did not incorporate a 12V into their architecture, the absence of which caused numerous problems.

When the 12V battery is a stand alone battery, it can be either a lithium (usually LiFePO4) or lead acid (usually an AGM) battery. So, the service implications often depend on the specific configuration and battery type involved. While you might have thought that the switch to an EV would mean you could leave your old jump starter behind, the need for a jump starter is relatively common for older EVs, as their 12V battery degrades over time and reaches its end of life. In an EV jump start, you are essentially augmenting the 12V battery, like you would with a traditional jump start, but there is no high current surge like there would be during the jump starting application on an internal combustion engine vehicle.

But, might you need a jump starter for a new EV just as often as you would if you were driving a traditional ICE vehicle? If your EV of choice is the Mustang Mach-E, the answer might be yes. A glitch in the Mach-E software in early production models caused many vehicles to drain the 12 Volt battery, resulting in owners finding their vehicle rendered unable to power up. The problem was compounded by the fact that the battery couldn’t be accessed because the frunk, in which was located, was electronically latched. Yikes! Obviously, these are sophisticated vehicles and we aren’t trying pick on Ford here. The key point is that the 12V battery still plays a crucial role in these systems and when it is not functioning properly, the consequences can be severe, like they are in traditional ICE vehicles.

Eventually, the 12V battery in an EV will require maintenance and service. This could mean periodic charging to extend the battery’s lifespan, periodic testing to better understand where the battery is in its lifecycle or the occasional jump start due to an excessively discharged battery.

While the jump starting demands of EVs are less rigorous than those of the typical ICE vehicle, quality and reliability still counts in the EV game. You want your jump starter to answer the call when you need it the most. It needs to have sufficient capacity to be of use to you in getting the EV back in service and it needs to consistently hold a charge so that when you reach for it, it is ready for action. Jump-N-Carry and Booster PAC have built their reputation on delivering dependable service, jump after jump, for hundreds of thousands of service facilities around the world. You can depend on models like the JNC770 to power you through to service success, whether you are servicing an EV or ICE vehicle.

Truck Driving Heroes Need a Professional Makeover

By: Monique Crapper, Head of Marketing at Relay Payments

For too brief of a moment at the outset of the COVID pandemic in America, truck drivers began to be acknowledged as heroes within the economy, delivering needed goods across the country while most of us were in lockdown.

How quickly the country stopped being thankful for our over-the-road heroes! As we ponder how to address the worsening driver shortage, perhaps we should start with making sure drivers are appreciated for the work they do. That can lead to a rethinking of the image of the profession to become more aspirational, and even begin to entice more new, young blood to the industry.

“I don’t call my drivers drivers. I refer to them as Industrial Athletes,” said Jon Stanley, managing partner of Synergy-Solutions speaking on a panel at the recent Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) conference in Las Vegas. ”Young people want to be more than just a driver. We have to get creative if we want to attract new drivers to our industry.”

The three key ideas discussed at TCA to solve for the driver shortage were:

Targeting young people

Better job conditions

Trucking is long overdue for a rebrand. How do we, as an industry, make trucking a desirable job? Kids grow up wanting to be a doctor or a firefighter or to fly to outer space. How do we get trucking on a kid’s ‘I want to be’ list of desired occupations?

The average age of a truck driver in America is 46, compared to 41 for all workers, according to 2019 Census Bureau data — and many are nearing retirement. This will only make the driver shortage worse.

The question is, how do we attract more drivers into the profession, including young drivers with long careers ahead of them?

During the conference workshop The Aging Population and Driver Shortage, the panel