spaco wrote:
If you think THAT is dangerous, how about this?
My neighbor is a volunteer firefighter. He recently told me that (at
least some) of the new hybrids have 300 or 400 volt systems. They have
been trained NOT to go near one of them that has caught fire or even put
water on them for fear of being electrocuted! ----"Even if you hear
then screaming", he says.
So, to me, 42 volts doesn't sound that bad. Hey, what do you think
of having 120 volts and 240 volts running around your house?


They have an inertial interrupter that splits the battery system into
two 150 V sets. That works like the inertial fuel cutoff switch that is
on many cars today.

So, is thes for real, that no rescues are to be performed on hybrids?
You just let them burn, then tow the hulk to the junkyard with the
skeletons inside?

Or, is this an insane reaction by some higly misinformed fire chief who
knows nothing about electricity except that it "can hurt you"?

Since I consider myself to actually know something about electricity, I
have REAL doubts anyone could get hurt spraying water on a burning
hybrid car. It is a self-contained electrical system, so how the
current could get back through the water spray is hard to imagine.
Now, I CAN imagine how somebody extricating an accident victim from a
smashed car could get hurt by touching the wrong thing, especially
when using various extrication gear (saws, jaws of life, bolt cutters,
etc.) But, that's part of why the inertial cutoff system is there.

Jon