Conti sensor helps EV users avoid a shocking experience
Many batteries in electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles generate some 400 volts, almost twice the voltage employed in standard domestic plug sockets and enough to give a potentially fatal jolt. Vehicle occupants risk exposure to this electric charge in the event of an accident, and US legislators have already stipulated that vehicle power supply voltage must drop to below 60 volts within five seconds of an accident occurring. No comparable laws yet exist in European markets, yet Germany’s Continental is switched onto the challenge of reducing electric vehicle battery voltage to safer levels following a collision. The automotive supplier has now come up with the evSAT, a sensor that will immediately shut off high-voltage batteries in the event of a collision while the vehicle is in charge mode, enabling emergency service personnel to recover the vehicle without the risk of receiving an electric shock.