Leaf is going to a body shop, what can go wrong?

[Valdemar]

My Leaf will be in a shop for body repairs on the driver's side. Given the type of the damage I expect they will have to spot-weld pulling rings before they can straighten out damaged body parts. I presume they don't know much about EVs. Should I insist they pull the HV disconnect before doing any work? I'm afraid they will forget even if I tell them. They told me they no longer cure the paint in a hot camera, so hopefully the battery won't be exposed to high temps. Anything else?

 

[EVforRobert]

It's very considerate of you to think of the safety of the body shop employees. I wouldn't assume that any of them knew anything about EV cars.

When I had some minor damage repaired on my volt they burned up an entire gallon of gas probably due to the hood being up. When you have the car on and lift the hood the engine automatically goes on as a safety mechanism. I think somebody just wanted to listen to the radio so they let my car run.

 

[Valdemar]

Yes I'm concerned with the safety of repair workers, but I also don't want them to run the battery down by listening to the radio till the contactor opens and leave the car like that sitting for a week, which is a more likely scenario as they shouldn't be working near HV lines.

 

[GerryAZ]

Take the EVSE out of the trunk so they cannot fully charge the battery and leave it sit that way. They should not be working near the high voltage wiring so I see no reason to pull the main disconnect. If they pull the disconnect, they wil not be able to drive it around the shop and the 12-volt battery will discharge. They should disconnect the negative cable of the 12-volt battery before welding (same as for any other car). The HV system is isolated from ground (body) so welding should not cause any issues. I hope the repairs go smoothly.

Gerry

 

[DuncanCunningham]

We also told them (when our cars was repaired and repainted) not to bake the car to help the paint cure. They can heat the vehicle to over 160 degrees. I told them if they need to 90 would be enough and I placed chocolate bars in and around places in the car so I would know if they had over heated it. I also mentioned that damaging the battery, by heating, would void the warranty and battery replacement was over $6000 so they probably wouldn't want to do that to our car.

 

[Bob]

Chocolate bars as heat sensors? That's a clever idea.

But a waste of good chocolate.

Bob

 

[DuncanCunningham]

Chocolate bars as heat sensors? That's a clever idea.

But a waste of good chocolate.

Bob

Chocolate is never wasted my good man! Melted or not it's a joy.