Thanks for the linked article. Was not aware about lead-acid batteries still being used in all-electric vehicles. Maybe (?) a lead-acid battery provides more reserve amps than what a Li-ion battery could provide, especially when outside temperatures are sub-zero.
Its because they're using off the shelf systems for other parts (electric stuff like radio/keyfob and the like for instance) that operate on 12V system as that has been the industry standard for decades.
Wow you know the care is REALLY dead when they have to use a flat bed. I guess it locked all the wheels or something too. Seems like poor design though, you'd think there would be some kind of fail safe to use the big battery to generate the 12v needed for the accessories, computer etc.
I think the 12V system manages some critical components (key system for instance) because they're using some of that from normal cars (so they don't have to develop all new components yet, they can use some off the shelf stuff and transition there). They'll get there, but in the meantime, yeah there'll be some stuff like this happening.
Oh, and also since so many electric cars and hybrids (even many other normal cars these days too) have the battery inside the passenger compartment, they need to be sealed and/or have their own external ventilation because otherwise they can emit gas that can kill you. There was some woman that had a Porsche SUV and the wrong type of battery was put in it, ended up killing her and her baby.
https://forums.anandtech.com/threads/hydrogen-sulfide-death-in-vehicle.2488302/
The Prius is really weird in some way. It has a unique 12V battery, but the main battery has a vent (for cooling) that's in the backseat (there's a little vent up by the shoulder of the rear seat on the passenger side), and so the A/C system is actually kinda critical. And it uses a different A/C setup (has an electric compressor, where the coolant is also the lubricating fluid or something? the compressor is actually inside the fluid loop I belive), so it needs special coolant. The engine and the electric motor have their own separate coolant as well (although they use the same coolant in both, its a non-conductive type, but they have their own individual, probably just to keep people from pouring normal coolant in if they shared it and it was low on coolant and didn't realize you need the special coolant). Lots of little weird stuff like that (the hydraulic brakes have their own separate system that is different from normal cars, which you don't use the hydraulic brakes too much in the Prius as it uses the motor most of the time for deceleration as the regenerative braking system; but anyway you need to manage the hydraulic brake system different than in a normal car). Which if you're aware of it its not bad as plenty of it is actually pretty easy to manage, and there's quite a bit of resources out now for how to do it. You just need to be aware of this stuff (and a lot of people aren't).
Here in Phoenix there's several independent mechanics that specialize in hybrid vehicles so that's nice, but in rural areas you'd be stuck going to the dealer which would be a pain (the small town I grew up in, the closest Toyota dealership was a good hour away).
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