I’m working on a book where the main character is driving an electric vehicle during a disaster. The power grid is still up but they’re trying to get to safety before it goes down. They spend the night in a remote area and leave food in the car, but a bear attacks and damages the EV in a way that makes it drivable but impossible to recharge. The character needs to find another EV to fix it, but I don’t know what part of the EV would be damaged in a way that allows it to still drive. Any suggestions on how to make it work within a couple of hours? I don’t want anything too complicated.
How about the character uses a mobile charger plugged into an RV outlet at a semi-abandoned RV park, but the bear destroys the mobile charger (EVSE)? This way, the character needs to find another charger. It wouldn’t be a huge fix, and you could play on the idea that most EVs don’t have spare parts, like a spare tire. If the car got a flat, they’d have to make do with a can of fix-a-flat and limited range, so it wouldn’t be a quick fix but could add tension. Damage to the charge port would probably be tough to fix, though.
@Noah
Thanks, the EVSE idea sounds good and doable .
Tatum said:
@Noah
Thanks, the EVSE idea sounds good and doable!
If the plug gets ripped out, it could take the charge port with it, making it impossible to use public chargers.
@Noah
Good thinking. I wasn’t sure how to meet the character’s needs, but not having a charger works well.
I’d keep it simpler than messing with the charge port. Maybe the front end of the car takes a hit and damages the frunk, causing it to not close properly, making it unsafe to drive. The character would have to drive without the frunk lid. You could even have them use the tow hook cover to jump the low-voltage battery and open the hood. It’s an easier fix than messing with the charging system. If they needed to raid another car for parts, that could be a plot point, but fixing the charge port would be tricky without the right tools.
@Torrin
Since this is also a comedy, the idea of the character removing parts could be pretty funny. Thanks for the idea .
Tatum said:
@Torrin
Since this is also a comedy, the idea of the character removing parts could be pretty funny. Thanks for the idea!
Oh, that’s even better! Especially if they forget the frunk lid no longer has a piston to keep it up. Maybe they could steal a black hood for a funny look. If the bear left claw marks near the headlights, you could make jokes about those decals people use that look like claw marks on muscle cars.
Maybe this will help: https://youtu.be/WLGaAE4_RjQ?feature=shared&t=636
Maybe the bear damage makes the plug impossible to remove, so they have to cut the cable. Then they would need to find another EV with a cable. I’m not sure if an EV can still drive while plugged in but not connected to a charger, though.
If you’re charging in a remote area, you’d usually be using a regular socket. This would be connected to an EVSE (a charging brick), and then the car would use a plug to charge. The bear could destroy the EVSE, and they wouldn’t be able to charge without finding another one. If the charging port got damaged, that would be harder to fix unless they could steal parts from another car of the same model.
@Jonah
The EVSE idea works better, thanks .
Here’s a thought: If the charging is damaged by the bear, maybe the protagonist has to go to a hardware store to fix it. If they’re skilled enough, they could use JB Weld to repair the charge port or the pins inside. You could also show them figuring out which parts to repair or bypass to get it to charge again. Here’s a great video on how an EVSE works: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTctVqjhDEw.
1 Like
@Frost
I’d rather have the character find another car for the plot, but I like the idea of the pins being damaged—it seems realistic. Thanks for the link and ideas .