Is converting a car to electric safe? Yes! Follow these tips…

It is possible to safely convert a car to electric. Once converted, the electric vehicle can be just as safe to drive as the original vehicle. However, just like a tank of gasoline, an electric car has a massive battery pack full of energy that can be extremely dangerous if not handled with care.

I have been working with electricity for many years. If there is one thing I have learned its that you can’t be too careful. Electricity is an invisible force and is often misunderstood. It can be hard to conceptualize the real danger because of how little experience the average person has to high amounts of electric power.

Have you ever attempted to jumpstart a car and accidentally touch the ends of the cables together or reverse the polarity on one of the batteries? If that spark gave you that level of an adrenaline rush with only 12 volts of potential energy, imagine what can happen when you are working with battery packs with over 30 times that amount of potential energy!

I have lots of theories and advice about how to be safe while working with electric vehicles however, safety is a serious topic. Besides catching my dad’s electric golf cart on fire, I have managed to stay pretty safe but I wanted to make sure I give you the best information possible.

I decided to pursue professional training on electric vehicle safety and I recommend you do the same if you are serious about a hobby in converting vehicles to electric.

While I was working as an engineer on nuclear weapons at Hill Air Force Base in Utah, I saw that the local state school near the base offered some classes to non-students in electric vehicles. Weber State University offers 3 classes. The first two online and the third is an in person electric vehicle boot camp. A link to them can be found here.

I always wanted to take them but never got around to it. As I started writing this article I decided it is time to take them so I can be confident in what I am sharing with you. So I will be be taking all three beginning with Phase I and as I learn I will share my take-aways with all of you.

I am sure there are other similar courses available and a quick search on YouTube will give great videos to start with.

Phase I: High-Voltage Safety Training

If you are doing DIY conversions I found that this course contains more than you will need. But if you are a business and you have employees that you are responsible for then this course may be worth providing to your employees. For example, the course starts out with a ton on helpful links to electric and hybrid vehicle regulations and safety requirements. Probably the most helpful to you is this list of OSHA standards that they cover more deeply in the the class.

OSHA Standard	Description

335 Safeguards for Personnel Protection	“Employees working in areas where there are potential electrical hazards shall be provided with, and shall use, electrical protective equipment that is appropriate for the specific parts of the body to be protected and for the work to be performed.”
132 General Requirements	“Protective equipment, including personal protective equipment for eyes, face, head, and extremities, protective clothing, respiratory devices, and protective shields and barriers, shall be provided, used, and maintained in a sanitary and reliable condition wherever it is necessary by reason of hazards of processes or environment, chemical hazards, radiological hazards, or mechanical irritants encountered in a manner capable of causing injury or impairment in the function of any part of the body through absorption, inhalation or physical contact.”
133 Eye and Face Protection	“The employer shall ensure that each affected employee uses appropriate eye or face protection when exposed to eye or face hazards from flying particles, molten metal, liquid chemicals, acids or caustic liquids, chemical gases or vapors, or potentially injurious light radiation.”
136 Foot Protection	“The employer shall ensure that each affected employee uses protective footwear when working in areas where there is a danger of foot injuries due to falling or rolling objects, or objects piercing the sole, or when the use of protective footwear will protect the affected employee from an electrical hazard, such as a static-discharge or electric-shock hazard, that remains after the employer takes other necessary protective measures.”
137 Electrical Protective Equipment	“Design requirements for specific types of electrical protective equipment. Rubber insulating blankets, rubber insulating matting, rubber insulating covers, rubber insulating line hose, rubber insulating gloves, and rubber insulating sleeves shall meet the following requirements:…”
138 Hand Protection	“Employers shall select and require employees to use appropriate hand protection when employees’ hands are exposed to hazards such as those from skin absorption of harmful substances; severe cuts or lacerations; severe abrasions; punctures; chemical burns; thermal burns; and harmful temperature extremes.”

For the DIYers out there

I would say you can get away without paying for a training like this. Check out this video that is actually from the course I took. The teacher has uploaded many videos to his YouTube channel WeberAuto.

Before this class I had always wondered what voltages are actually dangerous. Other places online gave many different answers. According to FMVSS 305 in the automotive world anything over 30V AC or 60V DC is considered high voltage and dangerous. I am going to use these thresholds as my guideline for when to wear Class 0 lineman gloves. These gloves are labeled as low voltage because in the power world low voltage is considered anything under 1000V AC.

Here are some of the safety tips I have settled on for my own electric vehicle conversions:

use Class 0 gloves, insulated tools (see below), and CAT III multimeter when working with or near anything that is energized over 30V AC or 60V DC
break your battery up into smaller modules when possible while performing maintenance
place physical barriers and reminders such as signs around anytime high voltage terminals are exposed
Do not work alone when dealing with high voltage

Here is another video from the class that covers low voltage systems (12V) of hybrid and electric vehicles. He covers DC-DC converters which is a component I have salvaged for my own conversions. I learned some things I did not already know about the use of AGM batteries with these converters. Who knew AGM batteries were so important for hybrid vehicles?

I did find the class very helpful in explaining:

the many configurations that hybrid electric vehicles use to pair the power of an electric motor with a gas motor
the 4 types of battery heat and cooling methods
high voltage system disabling for service
Interlock Safety Systems
EV and hybrid maintenance
HVAC systems
breaking systems
accidents and emergency procedures

I will cover what I learned on these topics in more detail in future posts.