You Already Know How to Jump Start a Car: Now What About Electric Vehicles?

You already know how to jump start a car because I'm sure you've watched our video walking you through those steps. But what happens when your electric vehicle won't turn on even when you know there's plenty of juice in the main battery pack? That means your 12-volt system has run down. How could this happen? Well, there are a number of ways you could have left the car sitting for an extended period of time. There could be a fault in the car's charging circuit, but none of that matters right now. What we're going to do is teach you how to get moving again by jump starting your electric vehicle.

So, basically this is very similar to the way in which we would jump start a traditional automobile. The first step means that we park a vehicle with a healthy battery next to the EV that's not playing nice. It's a smart idea to toss on the parking brake so neither vehicle rolls into the other. Take a look around and make sure anything that could drain your batteries like your headlights or interior lights is switched off.

It's time to grab those jumper cables for step four. First, connect the red or positive cable to the discharge battery's positive terminal. Take the positive or red cable on the other end of the jumper cable and attach it to the positive terminal on the healthy vehicle. Take the negative or black cable and attach it to the negative terminal on the healthy battery. Slide over to the dead battery and attach the negative cable to an open bit of metal that will serve as a ground point. This can be an exposed bolt or actual metal on the car.

Take a moment to double check that all the connections are good and the cables won't slip off. Also, make sure the actual jumper cables are free of any moving parts like fans or belts when you're using a gas powered vehicle to jump start. Now it's time to fire up the healthy vehicle at step seven. Step eight now try and start the EV here we go keep the cars connected and keep both of them running for a bit to get some juice from the healthy batteries into the batteries of the previously dead vehicle.

Step nine involves removing the cables but in the reverse order in which you put them on there. So, take off the negative from the EV then the negative off the healthy car then do the positive from the healthy car and finally the positive from the EEVEE once you've done all this and said thank you to whoever just helped you out. Keep your EV running for at least 20 minutes this helps build up the charge in your 12-volt battery system.

It's a good idea to take your car into a service shop or your local dealer so the 12-volt system can be examined for any defects. It could be as simple as you needing a new battery. Some final notes do not mess with the high voltage battery system in your car if you have a drained big battery you cannot jump start your EV by hooking it up through jumper cables to another vehicle. Additionally, if your vehicle is connected to a charging station unplug it from the charging station before you charge your 12-volt system.

That's all you really need to know to jumpstart an EV so be prepared keep jumper cables in your car and then get off and silently motoring you

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enyou already know how to jump start a car because i'm sure you've watched our video walking you through those steps but that's for a regular car but what happens when your electric vehicle won't turn on even when you know there's plenty of juice in the main battery pack that means your 12-volt system has run down how could this happen well there are a number of ways you could have left the car sitting for an extended period of time there could be a fault in the car's charging circuit but none of that matters right now what we're going to do is teach you how to get moving again by jump starting your electric vehicle so basically this is very similar to the way in which we would jump start a traditional automobile now step one means that we park a vehicle with a healthy battery next to the ev that's not playing nice step two it's a smart idea to toss on the parking brake so neither vehicle rolls into the other step three take a look around and make sure anything that could drain your batteries like your headlights or interior lights is switched off it's time to grab those jumper cables for step four first connect the red or positive cable to the discharge batteries positive terminal take the positive or red cable on the other end of the jumper cable and attach it to the positive terminal on the healthy vehicle step five take the negative or black cable and attach it to the negative terminal on the healthy battery slide over to the dead battery and attach the negative cable to an open bit of metal that will serve as a ground point this can be an exposed bolt or actual metal on the car step six take a moment to double check that all the connections are good and the cables won't slip off also make sure the actual jumper cables are free of any moving parts like fans or belts when you're using a gas powered vehicle to jump start step seven time to fire up the healthy vehicle step 8 now try and start the ev here we go keep the cars connected and keep both of them running for a bit to get some juice from the healthy batteries into the batteries of the previously dead vehicle step nine involves removing the cables but in the reverse order in which you put them on there so take off the negative from the ev then the negative off the healthy car then do the positive from the healthy car and finally the positive from the eevee once you've done all this and said thank you to whoever just helped you out keep your ev running for at least 20 minutes this helps build up the charge in your 12 volt battery system it's a good idea to take your car into a service shop or your local dealer so the 12 volt system can be examined for any defects it could be as simple as you needing a new battery some final notes do not mess with the high voltage battery system in your car if you have a drained big battery you cannot jump start your ev by hooking it up through jumper cables to another vehicle additionally if your vehicle is connected to a charging station unplug it from the charging station before you charge your 12-volt system and that's it that's all you really need to know to jumpstart an ev so be prepared keep jumper cables in your car and then get off and silently motoring youyou already know how to jump start a car because i'm sure you've watched our video walking you through those steps but that's for a regular car but what happens when your electric vehicle won't turn on even when you know there's plenty of juice in the main battery pack that means your 12-volt system has run down how could this happen well there are a number of ways you could have left the car sitting for an extended period of time there could be a fault in the car's charging circuit but none of that matters right now what we're going to do is teach you how to get moving again by jump starting your electric vehicle so basically this is very similar to the way in which we would jump start a traditional automobile now step one means that we park a vehicle with a healthy battery next to the ev that's not playing nice step two it's a smart idea to toss on the parking brake so neither vehicle rolls into the other step three take a look around and make sure anything that could drain your batteries like your headlights or interior lights is switched off it's time to grab those jumper cables for step four first connect the red or positive cable to the discharge batteries positive terminal take the positive or red cable on the other end of the jumper cable and attach it to the positive terminal on the healthy vehicle step five take the negative or black cable and attach it to the negative terminal on the healthy battery slide over to the dead battery and attach the negative cable to an open bit of metal that will serve as a ground point this can be an exposed bolt or actual metal on the car step six take a moment to double check that all the connections are good and the cables won't slip off also make sure the actual jumper cables are free of any moving parts like fans or belts when you're using a gas powered vehicle to jump start step seven time to fire up the healthy vehicle step 8 now try and start the ev here we go keep the cars connected and keep both of them running for a bit to get some juice from the healthy batteries into the batteries of the previously dead vehicle step nine involves removing the cables but in the reverse order in which you put them on there so take off the negative from the ev then the negative off the healthy car then do the positive from the healthy car and finally the positive from the eevee once you've done all this and said thank you to whoever just helped you out keep your ev running for at least 20 minutes this helps build up the charge in your 12 volt battery system it's a good idea to take your car into a service shop or your local dealer so the 12 volt system can be examined for any defects it could be as simple as you needing a new battery some final notes do not mess with the high voltage battery system in your car if you have a drained big battery you cannot jump start your ev by hooking it up through jumper cables to another vehicle additionally if your vehicle is connected to a charging station unplug it from the charging station before you charge your 12-volt system and that's it that's all you really need to know to jumpstart an ev so be prepared keep jumper cables in your car and then get off and silently motoring you\n"