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by arielweisberg 1032 days ago
Chris Fix has a video showing how to replace all the cells on a Prius battery. It's not the hardest DIY thing I have seen by a large margin. I recall seeing a single cell replacement video a while back as well, but don't remember where.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAHaYXBFnJo

We need more right to repair and requirement to make things repairable regulations. The balance is in the wrong spot right now.

3 comments

Chris Fix's videos are a wonderful. High signal to noise with a very pleasant presentation.

They are mostly car repair, maintenance, and modification. No real theme, just whatever he happens to be doing and find interesting.

My 11 year old has watched his oil change video at least a hundred times. We opened the hood on my truck and he was able to find various parts that Chris had mentioned in his videos. My older two (driving age) have no clue.

Right to repair is already possible on Prii's. The question is, is it possible on Teslas.
It is possible on Teslas (despite their best efforts). Check out some of the older Rich Rebuilds videos on YouTube.
Isn't it much more dangerous to work on these batteries?

400V or 800V at those amperages can easily be fatal even through a pair of rubber gloves.

If you follow the appropriate procedures it is no more dangerous than working on an ICE car. There are safety fuses you pull to disarm the system.
About the same level of danger as working on your own brakes.
Agreed - unfortunately so much is going into proprietary systems and DRMing control units (and even spare parts), which really needs to change.

There is some progress being made, like https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64206913 - but absolutely, legislating RtR is the way to go.

Imagine a post-apocalyptic world with fully functional technology that surviving humans are hopelessly locked out from using. The Master-Blaster rulers will be the ones who are, or who control, the hackers.