Hi all,
I thought maybe this would be the place to go to see what can be done about my mom’s situation. For context, last year, in Nov 2022, my mom bought a used, 2018 Smart ForTwo EQ for around 20k. Just a week or two ago, she calls me to tell me her car won’t start, so I ask her to show me what it says, she video calls, and I see something similar to a High Voltage battery error. So we get it towed to her house, and she makes an appt with the Mercedes dealership she bought it from. FF to today, they tell her that it’ll be 23k to replace the battery. Anyone here who might be able to help me figure out what her next steps are? She doesn’t have anywhere near that kind of money on hand, and neither do I.
A bad 12V battery on an EV shouldn’t kill the car if it’s already running. It’s just like an ICE where it’s needed to start the car and then the alternator/traction battery is supposed to charge the battery and maintain a voltage for the 12V system. In an ICE, it turns the starter. In an EV, it engages the contactors for the traction battery.
I did have a car die once while driving. If I turned on the headlights it would die. That’s because the alternator was bad and not charging the battery.
true. it didn’t die, per se, but i def didn’t want to drive/tow it until i made an attempt to fix it.