We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember Steve Walker
saying something like:

Many modern cars charge at a much higher voltage than the old standards -
it's part of efficiency measures I think. My car has a 120A, 14.7V
alternator (that's the nominal volatage, it will actually output higher
voltages). The alternator has three wires specifically for the engine
management to set the required output voltage (removing the plug defaults
to high output). The high voltage *will* damage normal batteries, therefore
these cars need specific battery types.

Sounds like a right load of ********.