Extreme weather is frequent, and new energy vehicles encounter the double test of "under the scorching sun and heavy rain".

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2024-06-28 08:04Cover News Official Account

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On June 24, the Central Meteorological Observatory issued the first red warning for heavy rain this year, and it is expected that there will be continuous heavy precipitation in northern Jiangnan and other places.

02Extreme weather brings double tests to new energy vehicles, including charging safety in rainy days and wading safety.

03To this end, mainstream pure electric vehicle companies have greatly improved charging safety, such as Tesla set up "double insurance" to ensure charging safety in rainy days.

04 On the other hand, new energy vehicles pay more attention to sealing performance in design, and the wading depth is usually better than that of traditional fuel vehicles.

05When traveling in extreme weather such as heavy rain, drivers need to improve safety awareness, strictly follow the correct operation methods, and avoid wading in the water.

Technical support is provided by Tencent Hybrid Model

At 10 o'clock on June 24, the Central Meteorological Observatory issued the first red warning for heavy rain this year. It is expected that from the 24th to the 27th, there will be continuous heavy precipitation in the northern part of Jiangnan, the eastern and southern parts of Jianghan, Jianghuai, Guizhou, Guangxi and other places. Since June 17, heavy rainfall has continued in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, with a cumulative rainfall of 200 to 400 mm in some areas of Anhui, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan and other places, including more than 700 mm in some areas.

In the context of climate change, extreme weather such as heavy rain and torrential rain occurs frequently, which not only brings many inconveniences to people's daily travel, but also brings severe challenges to transportation. With the increasing popularity of new energy vehicles, their driving safety in extreme weather has attracted more and more attention.

Huang Lei, general manager of Tesla's western region, said that people's worries about charging new energy vehicles in rainy days come from the simple physical common sense of "water energy conduction", and they are worried that when charging in rainy days, rainwater will enter the charging pile from the interface, which will cause potential safety hazards such as short circuits. With the improvement of various technologies of new energy vehicles, mainstream pure electric vehicle companies have greatly improved the charging safety.

Taking Tesla as an example, a "double insurance" is set up for charging in rainy days: first, for the sealing that can keep rain out, Tesla cars use special charging port sealing measures to ensure that even if charging outdoors on rainy days, the charging gun can be tightly inserted into the charging port and locked; Second, in order to further improve safety, there is a drainage channel under the charging port of Tesla cars, even if rainwater enters the charging port, it will flow into the drainage channel under the action of gravity, and then discharge, taking multiple measures to effectively ensure that users can charge safely in the rainy season.

As a new energy vehicle driven by electricity, many people think that it may be more susceptible to water than fuel vehicles based on common sense. However, in fact, for pure electric vehicles, because they do not have air intakes, they are usually better than traditional fuel vehicles in terms of wading depth, and the design of their "three electric systems" (battery, motor, and electronic control) also pays more attention to sealing performance to ensure normal operation in humid environments. For example, for battery packs, almost all new energy vehicles will adopt IP67 waterproof design to ensure that the service life will not be too affected after wading.

But on the other hand, due to the denser electronic components of new energy vehicles, and the hybrid models are still equipped with engines, most car manufacturers still put forward stricter guidelines for the use of new energy vehicles.

For example, Xiaomi Auto has released precautions for vehicle wading, Xiaomi SU7 in the half-load state (occupant 150kg + luggage 30kg), the maximum wading depth of the vehicle is 350mm, which is equivalent to the height of the wheel core. It is recommended to keep the speed of 5-7 km/h when passing over stationary water, and be more careful when crossing moving water. Moreover, Xiaomi specially reminds that the vehicle wading is only to avoid danger, and it is recommended that users do not deliberately wade in the water, let alone wade at high speed, so as not to cause additional safety hazards. In addition, if the speed of the vehicle is too high when wading into the water, there is also a risk that the exterior trim parts and body guards of the vehicle may be washed off. After a normal vehicle wades in water, the user should also check whether the vehicle's brakes, horn, steering assistance, and lights are in good condition.

Yang Mingwei, service director of the after-sales service department of Chengdu Century Vision BYD Automobile, said that new energy vehicles should be charged in places with rain shelter conditions as much as possible in strong convective weather; If the vehicle is soaked in water or wading beyond the threshold, you must contact the BYD authorized service store in time to check the status of the vehicle; It is strictly forbidden to drive on a road where water accumulates more than half of the tires. Since high-voltage parts are electronic devices, sun-drying and air-drying of high-pressure parts after flooding cannot ensure the complete evaporation of water. The high-voltage parts have a great impact on their own insulation after water ingress, and at the same time, the water contains more conductive media, which may cause the internal short circuit of the high-voltage parts or make the high-voltage system have the risk of short circuit, which seriously affects the safety performance and performance of the whole vehicle. Once the high-voltage parts are wading, the power battery shall be properly tested and treated in accordance with the latest "New Energy Vehicle Maintenance Safety Manual", and other high-voltage parts shall be replaced.

In addition, even if the three-electric system of the vehicle has good waterproof performance when it leaves the factory, the sealing of the battery system may decrease as the use time increases. Wang Fang, chief scientist of China Automotive Technology and Research Center, pointed out that after the battery pack is flooded, it may corrode the structural parts and connectors inside the battery system, resulting in a decrease in insulation performance, and may even cause a short circuit in the battery and a fire.

Therefore, when traveling in extreme weather such as heavy rain, drivers should continue to improve their safety awareness, strictly follow the correct operation methods, and avoid wading in water as much as possible when it is not necessary to ensure the safety of themselves and their vehicles.

Cover News Reporter Liu Nian

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