Leaf safety concern

[gamekid2k]

What will happen if the car is on highway at 65+ mph and one of the three thing occurs

1) Power switch is shut off
2) Key battery dies (blue tooth)
3) Key thrown out of the car

Will the car stop immediately and apply the parking brakes? I hope not...

 

[adric22]

I can't answer your first question.. But in regards to the keyfob, the car will display an error message about the keyfob once it leaves the car. However, it will continue to operate fine until you shut it down.

 

[DarkStar]

What will happen if the car is on highway at 65+ mpg and one of the three thing occurs

1) Power switch is shut off
2) Key battery dies (blue tooth)
3) Key thrown out of the car

Will the car stop immediately and apply the parking brakes? I hope not...

1 - Car will go into "Neutral," that is no acceleration. You'll have brakes, but not necessarily power-assist (you'll have to push them harder to stop).
2 - You'll get a message about the key being removed, but nothing else changes on the car.
3 - Same as 2.

The parking brakes are never automatically applied.

 

[Graycenphil]

I haven't tried it yet in my Leaf, but in other cars with keyless ignition that I've driven, you have to press the stop/start button for more than a second to make it turn off. In other words, if someone just bumps it, nothing happens.

I'll try it in the Leaf this afternoon.

 

[KillaWhat]

What will happen if the car is on highway at 65+ mpg and one of the three thing occurs

1) Power switch is shut off
2) Key battery dies (blue tooth)
3) Key thrown out of the car

Will the car stop immediately and apply the parking brakes? I hope not...

As others have said, for number one I have no actual knowledge.
I assume the same thing happens as if you were to turn off the key on your ICE vehicle.

As for 2 and 3, THIS I have first hand knowledge.
It will let you drive to Home Depot just fine, then you discover you left the key fob home, and you can't restart the car, and you have to call the wife, and look like an idiot.
Presumably there is some way to take advantage of this "feature".
Valet Parking?
Lending the Car to your child?

Don't know, but there must be something.

 

[Graycenphil]

Just tried it. When you push the button, it beeps. If you hold it for about 2 seconds, the power to the motor shuts off and it goes into neutral. Before you try it, be aware that you have to come to a complete stop before you can put it back in Drive.

Seems like pretty safe system, though I would rather if you could resume driving while you are still rolling.

 

[gamekid2k]

Thanks for the info. i can now sleep better knowing car won't come to complete stop during high speed driving

 

[WHITELEAFLINY]

what would happen if power switch was turned
off,and you had a front end accident would the
air bags deploy?

 

[Graycenphil]

Sorry - I can't try that one for you. Seems like a very unlikely scenario...

 

[mikeEmike]

Seems like a very unlikely scenario...

It's not that unlikely, unfortunately. GM is currently recalling 1.6M vehicles because faulty ignition switches are disabling the air bags, power brakes, power steering, etc.

 

[LeftieBiker]

What happens when you turn the ignition off in an ICE car? And, more importantly, what happens if you get Raptured Up while driving, due to your extra-Virtuous choice of cars?

 

[DarkStar]

what would happen if power switch was turned
off,and you had a front end accident would the
air bags deploy?

From "The Internet" (http://www.aorc.org/resources_passive.asp?VideoID=66#46" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;):

If a vehicle is struck while its ignition is off, will the airbag deploy?
Depending upon the auto manufacturer, some Airbag units have an auxiliary power source that is connected to the diagnostic unit or a separate unit entirely. This allows for the Airbag to deploy if the battery is damaged during a collision. Check your owner's manual or ask your dealer.

When I last looked at the service manual for the Nissan Leaf, I did not notice any type of auxiliary power source (capacitor bank or battery) tied into the SRS (safety restraint system). Since the SRS goes through an enabling process every time the Leaf is turned on, I suspect that it is indeed powered off when the car is off.

 

[Graycenphil]

I wasn't paying that much attention to this aspect when I turned it off, but it seemed to me everything else was working, just that the motor was turned off. Which would lead me to believe that the airbags will still function if you push and hold the stop button while driving. Again, it is a pretty hard thing to do accidently, so I don't think there is much cause for concern here.

 

[WHITELEAFLINY]

what would you do in a uncontrolled acceleration and hadto push the
start buton to stop the motor?

 

[Graycenphil]

First choice, step on the brake. Second choice, put it in neutral. Last choice, turn off the car.

 

[LeftieBiker]

IIRC, three quick presses of the Start button disables the EV drive system.

 

[johnrhansen]

Don't know why I tried it, I guess curiosity trumps common sense, after all I paid thousands of dollars for the car. Going about 30. Push off button momentarily. The car responds by beeping. Hold the button in, the car shifts into neutral and all dash indications go out, but radio continues playing. System would not boot up until car was completely stopped, and then only after cycling the button a couple times.i was scared I broke the car. Kids, don't try this at home.

 

[Graycenphil]

But now we need someone to hold the button, then crash into something substantial so we can see if the airbags will work.

 

[johnrhansen]

But now we need someone to hold the button, then crash into something substantial so we can see if the airbags will work.

I guess self preservation trumps curiosity!